Knights and Fairies
by Andril
Summary: Medieval AU. Trouble is brewing to the south of the Kingdom of Fiore. Will her valiant knights be enough to withstand the coming storm? A story of knights in shining armor, wars against evil, and the light of love. I do not own Fairy Tail nor its characters. Please read and review.
1. Chapter 1

The muffled sound of music and the happy chatter of hundreds of the air sounded through the air and into Natsu's ears. He strolled through the tournament grounds in his jousting armor, barely noticing the stares and whispers he was getting through the slit in his visor. His tent was just up ahead and when he came to it he ducked inside, seeing the young Romeo sitting in a chair. The tent was sparsely furnished with only a table, chair, and an empty armor stand inside it. Romeo glanced up when Natsu entered and stood up saying, "Are you sure you want to do this Natsu?"

Natsu took his helmet off and his unruly pink hair spilled out of it, a frown decorating his face before saying, "Yeah. Don't worry about it, it's not like I need someone to squire for me, I got along fine without one."

The younger boy frowned as well and snapped, "I'm not talking about that! You know what kind of position you're going to put the king in if you win!"

Natsu's gauntleted hands clenched into fists and he said, "I don't care. This should have been done a long time ago."

Romeo sighed and turned to pick up the kite shield lying on the table with a black leather cover on it, "You could at least go as yourself. There's no need for the black knight ruse."

Natsu laughed grimly, "I don't want him to know it's me until I'm standing in front of him. I want to see the shock on his face when I take my helmet off."

The dark haired boy groaned as he handed over the shield, "I'm surprised he puts up with you. You're not the best out there with a lance anyways, I doubt you'll make it to the finals."

Natsu grinned as he flipped the shield around and slung it over his back, "You just have to believe Romeo. You just have to believe."

Romeo shrugged and said, "Your funeral. I left a horse for you in the stables, stall number three."

Natsu asked him, "Are you sure it's a good one? I don't want to lose because I couldn't use my own horse."

Romeo snorted, "Do you remember who my father is?"

The pink haired knight laughed as he put his helmet back on and his voice echoed out of it, "Good point. Alright, I'll see you after I win this thing."

He stepped up to the boy and ruffled his hair before turning and exiting the tent. He looked around until he spotted the stables and walked over there, entering and moving back to stall number three where his horse was supposed to be. He reached it and his eyebrows rose slightly at the horse in front of him and he whistled softly, "Damn, that is a fine horse."

He grinned and went over to put a saddle on it, cinching it tight so that it wouldn't come loose during the joust. It nickered at him and he went over to hug its head, speaking softly to it, "It's alright boy, I'm not going to hurt you. Me and you are going to win this whole thing together, so let's get to it."

He led it out to the artificial streets created in the tournament ground and towards the jousting arena. He went to the small waiting area for the participants and looked around, noting how difficult the tournament would be. He saw the emblems of many renowned knights and grinned, thinking, 'There's sixteen of us here, so I need to beat four of these guys to win? This will be tougher than I thought.'

He heard a horn sound that indicated the joust would be starting in five minutes and a roar of sound as people cheered and hurried to find seats in the arena. A page came and said, "Sir Conbolt and the unknown Knight are to be the first joust, please make your way to the arena."

Natsu chuckled as he mounted his horse and muttered, "Sorry Romeo, but it looks like I'm going to be knocking your dad out of this tournament early."

He nudged his horse and it cantered out of the waiting area and into the arena, moving towards the far side as was custom when deferring to a more respected knight. Of course, everyone was more respected than an unknown Knight, but that didn't bother Natsu. He got to the end and turned putting his horse on the opposite side of the short wooden fence that separated the two knights. He saw Macao raise his visor grab a lance from his squire. A page came up to him and handed him a lance before quickly backing away. Both knights looked towards the king's box where King Jude Heartfilia sat. Next to him was Princess Lucy, and behind both of them were two armored guards. Natsu could see 'Beast Arm' Elfman, and 'Black Steel' Gajeel standing stoically behind the Princess and smirked, 'Bet those guys want in on the action.'

The King stood up and said in a booming voice, "This is the competition we have been waiting for, the joust! Ride well brave Knights."

He sat back down and a crier stood up near him and announced, "On the near side is the famed knight, Sir Macao Conbolt! Known as the Purple Flame Knight! He was once co-commander of the King's cavalry an earned a fearsome reputation on the battlefield. He has since retired from that position, but that does not mean that he has forgotten the skills that brought him glory!"

A cheer rose up for the famed knight. Another crier stood up and gave the time honored introduction for a black knight, "He comes as nobody, but could be anybody. Only in defeat is his identity revealed. The black Knight rides for glory."

A smaller cheer was let out for the black knight and then the King shouted, "Begin!"

He watched as Macao lowered his visor and set his shield into position. Natsu swung his own shield off of his back and set it firmly before spurring his horse on towards Macao as the older man did the same. They simultaneously lowered their lances and Natsu aimed for the dead center of Macao's shield, hoping that a lucky blow would unhorse him in one hit. The moment before they hit his eyes closed of their own accord and he felt the twin shocks of a lance hitting his shield, and his lance hitting another shield. He was slammed back against his saddle and nearly thrown off but kept his position.

His eyes opened as his horse slowed and turned and when he looked back he saw Macao on the ground and his horse running free. He grinned and held up the shattered stump of his lance in victory as cheers resounded throughout the arena. He glanced at the king's box and could see the surprise on the King's and Princesses faces at the fact that he'd unhorsed such a famous knight in one tilt. He laughed as he nudged his horse into a canter and left the arena, heading back towards the waiting area.

When he got there he dismounted and tied his horse up before heading towards the small tent they had for competitors to wait in in between rounds. He ducked in and nearly ran into Grey Fullbuster. The dark haired man looked at him and murmured, "I know that style, I've practiced against it many times. What are you up to with the black knight disguise?"

Natsu grinned beneath his helmet and only nodded to Gray before moving past him into the tent and sitting down next to the only other knight with his helmet on in the tent. He saw out of the corner of his visor the knight's head turn to look at him but then turn back forwards. He settled in to wait for his next bout, closing his eyes as the cheers of the crowd from the arena heralded the entrance of the next contestants.

* * *

An hour and a half later he trotted his horse back into the Arena for the fourth time. He'd had to defeat Lyon Vastia in the second round and barely done so, unhorsing him on the third tilt. The third round he'd gotten lucky against 'Lightning Bolt' Laxus. The large man's shield had apparently been faultily made and so Natsu's first strike with the lance had shattered it and thrown Laxus off.

Slightly behind him was the knight he'd sat next to earlier, the one that had kept his helmet on the entire competition, just like Natsu. He grinned, 'Keeping your identity secret just like me eh? Your helmet comes off first.'

Natsu's horse cantered down towards the far side of the arena and he turned, grabbing a waiting lance from a page. A crier stood and shouted, though his voice seemed to be going hoarse, "We have two unknown knights in the finals, truly an unexpected result. They come as nobody but could be anybody. Only in defeat will one of their identities be revealed. The black knights ride for glory."

Natsu noticed over the roar of the crowd that his opponents shield didn't have a covering over it and chuckled slightly, 'Idiot. That's not another black knight. That's a knight with no land, not even an emblem. He's such an unknown or such a new knight that he hasn't done anything worth painting on his shield. This should be interesting. If he took down Fullbuster, then I know he's good.'

The king boomed, "Begin."

Natsu spurred his horse forward and it took it. He lowered his lance, aiming it for the center of the other knight's shield, hoping that his opponent wasn't quite set how he should be. The moment before impact his eyes involuntarily closed and the twin shocks of lance upon shield hit him. He found himself levered out of his saddle and flew through the air before landing roughly on the ground. His first thought was, 'Damnit! Not again! I didn't make it this far just to lose!'

He didn't hear a roar from the crowd though, only stunned silence. He opened his eyes and sat up to see both horses running wild and the other knight also on the ground. He shakily stood up and threw his broken lance stump away; checking his shield to make sure the covering was still intact. He saw the other knight standing up but wondered, 'What the hell do we do now? Both of us were unhorsed but both of us can't lose.'

He looked up to the king and saw him standing at the edge of the box. He spoke, "It seems we have two worthy knights, each unhorsing the other in the joust. I have decided that this will be settled through a show of swordsmanship. Let these two knights compete in another time honored tradition."

The crowd roared in approval and Natsu grinned behind his helmet. A page ran up to him with a longsword and he took it, testing its heft and finding that it would work quite well. The other knight also had a longsword and so they stepped towards each other until they were about five paces away. Natsu saluted the other knight, and a moment later he did the same. The king boomed from above them, "Begin!"

With a shout Natsu leapt forward, swinging his sword in a powerful overhand arc. The knight raised his shield and knocked his sword away before thrusting low at Natsu's legs. Natsu had to leap back to dodge it but as soon as soon as the sword was retracted he was back in, swinging strike after strike at his opponent. The man didn't have time to counter attack this time, put solely on the defensive by Natsu's attacks. They fought around the arena for a minute and Natsu thought, 'This guy's pretty good. But I haven't gone all out yet.'

With this thought he feinted a low thrust and the knight took the bait. He suddenly looped his sword around into a horizontal strike directly at the knight's head. His opponent ducked but not in time. Natsu's powerful strike hit the top of the man's helmet and somehow busted the strap holding it on because it flew off and landed in the dirt a few feet away. Natsu was stunned for a moment though because when he knocked the knights helmet off, long scarlet hair came cascading down out of it to fall to the middle of the knight's back. A feminine face with a look of anger on it came into view and Natsu gasped out, "You're a woman!"

She spoke for the first time and cursed, "Damn you for revealing my identity right now!"

The crowd was muttering and Natsu heard the king say, "This is outrageous, how did a woman get into the arena!"

Natsu slowly lowered his sword and shield to his side but the woman spat out, "What? Won't fight me now because I'm a woman!"

He ignored her question and asked, "What is your name?"

She looked at him curiously and then said, "I am Erza Scarlet."

He could hear the angry mutters from the crowd and the king giving orders to stop the match and arrest his opponent. He said, "Quickly, tell me why you risked death to compete in this tournament."

She said, "It is my dream to become a real knight. When I win this tournament I will ask as my one request to the king that he make me a real knight and let me join the castle guard. From there I will work my way up until I can join the Princess's guard. If I can do that then I will know that I've led a worthy life."

He stared at her, shocked by her revelation, and then a grin slowly spread over his face. He reached up and pulled his own helmet off and the arena went deadly silent when his pink hair and grinning face were revealed. Erza stiffened her eyes widened slightly in shock. He ripped off his shield covering, revealing the roaring red dragon that was his emblem. Whispers from the crowd of "Salamander" began to echo throughout the arena. Natsu said, "This is your lucky day then. I am Natsu Dragneel, the Salamander, commander of the knights that guard the Princess."

Natsu brought his sword and shield back up into position and shouted, "Come then! Prove to me that you are worthy of fulfilling your dreams!"

He saw a faint spark of hope in her eyes as she charged forward to attack, showing more power and speed than she had before. Natsu grinned as he countered all of her attacks and shouted, "Good! Show me your strength!"

He backpedaled as she attacked, glancing up at the king to see a look of complete rage on his face. Natsu inwardly sighed, 'If he would get over his prejudice against women knights they wouldn't be outlawed and we'd be able to double the size of our army.'

He turned his attention back to the fighting just in time to duck a sword stroke from Erza and backpedal again. Whispers began to sound throughout the crowd.

"She's amazing, she has Salamander on the defensive."

"He's the best swordsman in the country though; there can't be anybody else that good!"

Natsu heard this and decided enough was enough. He quickly disengaged from his opponent and said, "Alright, play time is over. If I keep this up you're going to ruin my reputation."

Her mouth opened and she started to say, "Wha…"

But Natsu had charged forward blindingly fast and swung at her. She barely blocked and her eyes bulged and her knees almost buckled at the power Natsu had put behind the strike. He quickly sent half a dozen strikes at her that she was barely able to defend against but the last one knocked her off balance and left her open. He used his shield to send her crashing to the ground and a moment later he had his sword at her throat. Erza's face had a look of surprise on it but it quickly turned to utter defeat as she croaked out, "I yield."

The crowd roared and he raised his sword and held it high in the air in victory, making them cheer louder. He slung his shield over his back and reached a hand down to help Erza stand. A look of surprise came over her face but she accepted his hand and he quickly pulled her up. He smiled at her, "You're very good. It was unlucky for you that we unhorsed each other and the King chose to have us fight with swords."

Her face stiffened and she whispered, "The king is going to have me killed."

Natsu sighed and was about to say something when four guards were suddenly surrounding them, grabbing Erza and detaining her. He turned to see that the King, Princess, and their guards had made their way down into the arena. Natsu went down on one knee when the king approached and the man said, "Rise, Sir Natsu. As is the tradition since the founding of our great country, since you have won the tournament you may request of me anything."

Natsu stood and the crowd went silent. He saw Princess Lucy behind King Jude with a grimace on her face and shaking her head minutely. Both Elfman and Gajeel behind her were doing the same thing. Natsu glanced back at Erza who was being dragged away limply and then looked the king dead in the eye, "My request is that this woman, Erza Scarlet, be named a knight and appointed to the sixth spot of the Princess's guard."

The king looked shocked, as did the princess and both of Natsu's friends on the guard behind her. King Jude sputtered, "Preposterous, it simply cannot be done."

Natsu said quietly with an air of menace in his voice so that the crowd couldn't hear, "Will you deny one of my rightfully won requests a third time king? If you do, I will have the right to challenge you to a duel of honor, and you will have no choice but to personally accept. Those are the traditions of Fiore. If you do not have the honor to fulfil my rightfully won request, then tradition demands that I show you the meaning of honor."

The King looked at him with fury on his face and stood still for half a minute and then said loudly, "Very well. Erza Scarlet, approach."

The guards let her go and she slowly walked up next to Natsu and looked at him with wonder before going down on one knee before the king. He drew his ceremonial sword and quickly tapped her on both shoulders saying, "I anoint you a knight of Fiore. In addition I name you to the empty sixth place on Princess Lucy's guard. Rise, Sir Erza Scarlet."

She did but before she was even up the King had stormed out along with his two guards. Erza looked at him and said, "What the hell was that Salamander!"

He grinned, "Well, a bit more thankfulness might be in order. I just saved your life and made your dream a reality in one fell swoop."

Erza's mouth opened but not a word came out as Natsu turned to look at Princess Lucy who had walked up to the two of them. She scolded Natsu, "I can't believe you did that! Do you have any idea how much trouble you're in?"

Natsu laughed sheepishly, "Don't worry about it Luce, the old geezer would never dismiss me, I'm the best."

Erza slapped him on the side of his head and hissed, "How can you address the Princess so casually you idiot!"

Lucy turned to Erza and said, "Don't worry about it, he can't follow the rules anyways."

Erza quickly bowed to Lucy, "Your highness, I'm sorry for the trouble that I have put you through. I will resign and leave the kingdom as soon as possible."

Lucy laughed and said kindly, "Nonsense, you will do no such thing. It will be nice to have a woman guarding me for a change, as opposed to these muscle heads. Sir Natsu will take you to the castle and get you set up in my guard's quarters. Right, Natsu?"

Her last sentence was said with a glare at the pink haired knight and he grinned, "No problem Luce."

She blonde princess shook her head and then turned and swept away, her two hulking guards following, but not before Gajeel commented, "Gihi, Salamander. You sure go a long way to get laid."

Natsu waved him off and then headed out towards the waiting area yelling over his shoulder, "Follow me Erza."

She did and when he got to the tent he turned to say something to her but was met with a gauntleted fist to the face. He fell to the ground and grunted, "What the hell woman!"

She stood over him glowering, "If you think that just because you saved my life, got me knighted, and put me on the Princess's Guard, that I'm going to sleep with you, I will end you."

Natsu stood up and glared at her, "That's not it at all, damn that Gajeel. He's been saying crap like that for almost a year now. I did this partly for me, and partly for you. I didn't really want you to be executed and I needed something that would force the king to try and deny my request. This just happened to do both of those."

She said quietly, "So you're saying you only did this because you wanted to get back at the king for something?"

He sighed, "Yes. But don't worry; you are more than good enough to be on the guard. You beat Fullbuster with a lance and from your swordplay I can tell that you're better than most."

Erza looked surprised and said, "Well, thank you I guess."

Natsu grinned, "Don't mention it. The King promoted Lyon Vastia from the Princess's guard a month ago and hasn't named a replacement. I was really tired of all the double shifts I had to pull."

She sighed, "Just shut up and tell me what I need to do now."

He laughed, "Alright. First we need to get all of your stuff moved up to the castle. The personal guards for the princess have a small suite near hers that we live in, so that we're always near her. Secondly, we need to properly introduce you to the guys. Thirdly… well… I'm not really sure but we'll figure out something."

Erza said, "I don't have much stuff. It's actually at an inn near the castle."

Natsu grinned, "Great, let's go get it."

She looked pointedly at him, "Don't you want to get out of that armor first?"

The pink haired man laughed sheepishly as he glanced down at the bulky armor they both wore, "Well, I had my squire help me into it this morning but he made himself scarce so he wouldn't give away my identity, plus I have nothing to change into here, we'd have to head back up to the castle. Why don't you get out of your armor first, then we'll go."

She blushed, "I don't actually have a squire, and all of my stuff is back at the inn."

Natsu laughed, "Well, it looks like we're stuck in the armor for a while then, come on."

They both left the now deserted tournament grounds and headed back towards the city. The grounds were only about 100 yards away from the massive defensive walls that surrounded the capital city of Magnolia. Natsu could see the familiar shape of the castle rising above the walls and smiled. They passed through the gates to the city and made their way through the afternoon foot traffic towards Erza's inn. When they reached it she led him up to her small room.

He looked around her room and saw only a backpack sitting in the corner and an empty armor stand. He laughed, "You really don't have that much stuff."

She went to collect her stuff but Natsu said, "Alright, let's see about getting that armor off of you."

She turned quickly and slapped him yelling, "I knew it! You do just want to sleep with me!"

Natsu glowered at her and rubbed his cheek saying, "No. It will just be easier to leave your armor here and have it collected, trust me. I wouldn't want to walk around in this stuff more than I had to."

Erza looked at him and a blush slowly rose in her cheeks, "Well, then leave. I can handle it on my own."

Natsu rolled his eyes, "Get over it. You wanted to join a male only profession and this is what you get. Besides, when we get up to the castle you'll have to share a room with me. There are three bedrooms, so it's two to a room. Gajeel and Elfman have a room together, and Laxus and Gray room together. That means we'll be seeing a lot of each other so get over it and let me help you with your armor."

She glared at him and then snapped, "Fine, just hurry up."

He walked over to her and she turned around to let him get at her armor. He removed her gauntlet's first. Then he undid all of the straps holding the breastplate in place before lifting it over her head and tossing it onto the bed with a grunt. He then turned back and did the same with the plates on her legs, leaving her in the sweat soaked leather padding that knights wore to protect their bodies from rubbing against the armor. He remarked as he began untying all of the knots in the leather, "This stuff reeks, when was the last time you washed it?"

He smiled at the sigh that she emitted as she was distracted by the small talk, "Far too long. It's hard to be surreptitious about something like that. People ask more questions than you would think."

He pulled the leather from her leaving her in small leather shorts and a tight shirt that was doing a poor job containing her ample bust. She blushed as she saw him give her a once over and then said, "Get out. I can do the rest on my own."

He laughed and gave her a mock salute before heading out the door. He leaned against the wall opposite her room and thought, 'If she gets embarrassed by that she's going to have a hard time dealing with Gajeel and Laxus.'

When Erza came out a few minutes later Natsu's eyebrows raised at her dress. She wore a loose white shirt, a blue skirt that ended just above her knees, and black boots. He remarked, "It just seems like you're trying to piss off the king, I love it."

She glared at him and said, "This is actually very conservative where I come from."

Natsu motioned for her to follow him as he clanked out of the inn in his armor and said, "So, where do you come from?"

They were in the now darkened streets and he noticed that she was looking around surreptitiously before answering, "I'm originally from the country of Crocus to the south. I left about five years ago and have been here ever since."

Natsu let out a surprised whistle and said, "You left Crocus five years ago? That's right around the time that rebellion overthrew the military government and named its own king."

Erza nodded but kept her lips closed and Natsu gave her a hard look, "I'm going to need the whole story. You may be part of the guard now, but I put you there and I can certainly take you out of it if I think you're going to be a threat."

The scarlet haired woman sighed and said, "Fine, but not in public."

Natsu nodded and said, "Then let's hurry up and get to the castle, this armor is starting to chafe anyways."

He led her to the castle gates only a few minutes away and they quickly made their way through the gardens and then into the castle proper. Natsu took a few back ways and servants staircases to reach the corner of the castle that was the Princess's. They finally came to a long hallway and as they walked down it Natsu pointed to the door at the end, "That's the princess's suite of rooms."

He got closer to a smaller door on the right and opened it up and stepped inside saying, "And this is home sweet home."

When Erza stepped inside she saw a medium sized room with various couches scattered around, as well as a small dining table with six chairs around it. There were three doors, one in each wall and Natsu led her to the one opposite the entrance. He opened it up and stepped inside saying, "This is my room, well, our room now."

She stepped inside to see a small room with two beds against opposite walls. There was a window between them and two small dressers that doubled as nightstands next to the window. The difference between the sides was that one was pristine and had nothing on it, and one was a complete mess. Papers were scattered on the small desk next to the door as well as used plates with particles of food still on them. Clothes were flung carelessly over what she presumed was Natsu's half of the room. He grinned at her as she walked in and set her bag down on her bed and said, "Don't mind the mess."

She glowered at him but sat down on her bed and said, "You wanted to know the full story?"

He sat down in his chair in front of his desk and nodded. She continued, "Fine, but let me get to the end without interruptions."

At his nod she continued, "Crocus was a terrible place five years ago. As you know it was run by the three top generals in the army. All they wanted to do was enrich themselves and so they made slavery legal again when they came to power ten years ago. They were building a huge fortress that they called the Tower of Heaven near the border with Fiore. Now that I think about it, it was probably so that when it was complete they could go to war with you and have a strong defensive position."

Erza sighed before continuing, "I was a slave on their labor gangs for three years building that fortress. Five years ago I tried to escape with some of my friends but we were caught. They took my best friend away and tortured him as punishment and a warning to everyone else who tried to escape. It was then that I just completely snapped. In three days I had organized a revolt of all the slaves at the fortress. We actually won. We took the guards by surprise and killed them all, and wound up with a nearly completed fortress in our grasp. All I had wanted to do was save my friend and I did, but he wanted to do more and so he started to spread the word of the rebellion in hopes to stir up more support and maybe challenge the military."

A few tears rolled down her cheeks as she said, "I helped him do it. All I wanted to do was escape but I couldn't just leave my best friend behind. Word of the rebellion spread and we got more and more support and in three months we were big enough to challenge the army. We fought a battle on the Nicean plains, our slave and peasant army against an actual army. Our army crushed theirs, all thanks to our leader's somehow brilliant military mind. We marched on the capital and took it, and he was proclaimed king."

Natsu's eyes widened and he wanted to speak but she continued, "But he wasn't the same person he was before. He was harder, and colder, and became a cruel person. He made some changes to appease his followers, but in reality the kingdom is still just as subjugated and miserable as it was during the military rule. I tried to talk him out of it and convince him that he was wrong, but he must have seen me as a threat. One night he had assassins come for me, but I killed them all and escaped. That was five years ago, and I've been here ever since."

When she finished she put her head down and let her hair cover her eyes and the tears that were leaking out of them. Natsu whistled slowly and then said, "Sounds rough. No wonder you're so good with a blade."

He walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, causing Erza to look up at him. He smiled and said, "Don't worry about any of that now. You've got new friends and a new place in the world."

Erza laughed and said, "I guess you're right. Now here, let me help you out of your armor, I can't believe you sat through that story with it on."

Natsu grinned and said cheekily, "I knew you just wanted to get your hands all over me."

The scarlet haired woman groaned and threatened, "If you even think about going anywhere in that direction I will castrate you in your sleep."

Natsu just laughed and gave her another mock salute saying, "As you say… Sir Scarlet."


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning Natsu woke up with a start. An unfamiliar noise had startled him out of sleep and as he sat up he heard it again. He glanced over at the other side of the room just in time to see Erza's chest rise and fall and a snore emit from her mouth. He gaped for a moment before chuckling and muttering under his breath, "This girl. I doubt she'll ever stop surprising me."

He threw on a shirt and quietly left the room. He made his way to the common area and saw Gajeel sitting at the dining table wolfing down a plate of eggs and bacon. He walked over to the table and smacked him on the head before sitting down. Gajeel nearly choked on his bacon and then rubbed a hand over his short spiky black hair where Natsu had struck him before saying, "What the hell was that for Salamander?"

Natsu shrugged, "Stop insinuating that I'm trying to sleep with every woman that I talk to. It's starting to become a pain in the ass."

The man shrugged his massive shoulders and went back to eating after saying, "It's been two years Salamander, you need to get laid."

Natsu ignored him glanced around, seeing some toast on a platter sitting in the middle of the table and grabbing it. He asked, "Who's on duty right now?"

Gajeel glanced out the window to judge the time by the sun's progress through the sky, the multiple piercings on his face gleaming, before saying, "Probably Fullbuster. He and Laxus had a bet going on the tournament, whichever one made it the farthest got his half of the shift taken by the other. They both got knocked out in the third round but Laxus argued that since Fullbuster lost to a girl that Laxus won the bet. Me and the Elf agreed. It's about eight so you have four more hours until you're on duty."

Natsu laughed, "That girl is sleeping fifteen feet away, you should probably not insult her too much or she might decide to teach you a lesson."

Gajeel snorted and turned his red eyes to the door to Natsu and Erza's room, "Just because you let her in doesn't mean I have to respect her. Sure she might be decent with a blade but she'll never be as good as a man at it. Not enough upper body strength."

The pink haired man shrugged and said, "Well, I'm going to go test her out to see just how good she is right now. I got a pretty good sense of it yesterday but this will really see."

Gajeel shrugged and said, "Do what you want. Maybe now you'll stop bitching about being alone on the afternoon shift."

The black haired man went back to eating and Natsu stood up to head back into his room, but stopped to grab another piece of toast. He opened the door and slipped in before closing it. Erza was still in the same place so he went over to her bed and shook her while saying brightly, "Get up. Time to start the day!"

She groaned and rolled away from him. He sat the toast down on her nightstand and grinned, shaking her again, "Last chance. Get up or I use this bucket of water."

She shot up and said, "Alright, alright, I'm up!"

He laughed and walked back to his side of the room and started rummaging around in the corner in a pile of clothes while saying, "Good. Now get up, have some toast, and let's get started."

She looked around and spotted the toast, picking it up and taking a bite before saying, "Start what?"

He pulled out a set of loose pants and a leather tunic, "Training of course. Have to train every day to keep your edge."

Erza nodded, "That is a good ide… what the hell are you doing?"

Natsu was currently in his underwear trying to put on the pants he'd pulled out. Her outburst had startled him and he'd fallen over. From his position on the ground he said, "What does it look like, I'm getting dressed! I can't train in my sleeping clothes."

Her face was red as she said, "Well, don't do it in front of me. Wait until I'm gone."

Natsu pulled on his pants and stood up laughing, "You're going to have a rough time if you keep trying to preserve the innocence of your eyes. You live with five guys now, and one of them is a stripper."

Erza's eyes bulged and the next words came out as a strangled gasp, "A stripper?"

Natsu sighed, "Yeah, Gray Fullbuster. Somehow he picked up an unconscious stripping habit from his teacher. I'm just thankful he can't do it in armor."

The red head was shocked, "You mean that knight I beat yesterday?"

Natsu nodded as he put the leather tunic on, "Yeah. He's on the guard. He's not really the one you should worry about though, you'll get used to the stripping."

His face turned serious as he continued, "Laxus, Gajeel, and Elfman are all big hulking brutes of men, and they act like it. They're not going to respect you, well; Elfman might if his sister makes him. Laxus and Gajeel are going to try and walk all over you and bully you. I'd advise you to not let them or your life here is going to be a living hell."

Erza nodded, "I can deal with men like that."

Natsu walked over and clapped her on the shoulder with a smile, "Great, now let's get down to the training yard and see what you're really made of."

He walked out of the room into the empty common area and surmised that Gajeel had left to go somewhere. It took Erza a moment to put on her clothes but she was soon out and he led her down to the training yards in the back of the castle. There were already many of the regular castle guards bustling about doing drills or individual training. Most of them stopped and stared when Natsu and Erza walked into the yard. The two ignored them and went over to an area that held wooden swords, but the real shields. Natsu also found two pairs of chainmail for them and when Erza looked at it questioningly he said, "Always train like you're actually in a fight. Wear some armor, use a real shield. If I could get away with it I'd train with a real sword but nobody wants to lose an arm."

Erza nodded and he handed her the chainmail. He wriggled into his and felt it fall around his body. Natsu checked to make sure that it was sitting right and then moved to pick up a shield and practice sword. He checked the heft on the sword to make sure that it was as close to correct as possible and then nodded to himself. He turned and saw Erza similarly armed and motioned for her to follow him to an empty area off to the side.

They got there and he faced her and said, "Alright. We'll start half speed to warm up. When I say so we'll move to full speed. This is just simple sparring."

She nodded and he moved forward, swinging his sword at her head. She blocked and retaliated and for a few minutes they sparred slowly. Neither of them noticed that the training yard had all but come to a complete stop to watch them. One guard whispered to another, "I heard that the woman there nearly beat the Salamander in a sword fight at the tournament yesterday and he was so impressed he got the king to put her on the guard."

Another laughed at him, "No way, the Salamander is the best in Fiore with a sword. I bet he just wants to sleep with her. It's been what, two years since his fiancée died? I'd be willing to bet he hasn't gotten any since then."

A third guard came over and said, "I was actually there, unlike you two idiots. He did it to piss off the king. You both know that his other two requests after winning a tournament were denied right? King couldn't deny a third request so the lady got on the guard. She might be good, or he might be trying to get laid, but neither of those were the main reason."

The first two nodded sagely before a drill instructor yelled at them to get back to work.

Natsu had worked up a decent sweat so he motioned for Erza to stop and said, "Alright. We're going full speed now. Give me everything you've got."

She nodded and preempted his signal to begin by letting out a shout and charging at him. He grinned and blocked her first blow before countering. She was forced to jump back but came right back in, attacking furiously trying to find a way through Natsus defenses. For a solid minute she hammered away at him and he defended with ease, neatly picking off attack after attack. Finally she overextended and Natsu was able to trip her and put his blade at her throat. She said, "I yield."

Natsu stepped back and motioned for her to get back up before saying, "Again."

They repeated the same process three times. Erza furiously trying to break Natsus defenses and then him going on the offensive and ending it quickly. After the third time Erza shouted, "How are you so good? This is ridiculous!"

He lowered his sword and shield as she stood up shaking with anger and said simply, "I don't get cut."

She looked at him quizzically, "What do you mean?"

Natsu shrugged, "Before every fight I tell myself, 'You are not going to get cut', and I don't get cut."

Erzas mouth dropped open and she said, "That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

The pink haired knight laughed ruefully, "Yeah it is pretty stupid. Really it's just instinctual. From watching you fight I can tell you what your biggest flaw is, you think too much. There's always a split second of hesitation in whatever you do and I'm able to use that to my advantage. When I'm fighting I let loose, don't think, and let my arms and legs do the talking. They've never let me down before."

Erza said, "Alright, I guess I see what you mean. Let's go one more time."

Natsu nodded and brought his weapons up into the guard position and with a shout, attacked Erza. He noticed immediately that she was taking his advice and letting her instincts take over. He grinned and they fought for a good five minutes before he was finally able to knock her down with his shield and force her to yield. He said, "Much better."

She growled angrily, "But it's not good enough!"

Natsu stepped back and shrugged, "You don't have to be the best. You just have to be better than everyone that you're going to fight. This is just training."

Erza stood up and ignored him walking over to the gear area and ripping her shield off. He shouted after her, "Hey, we're not done here!"

He was surprised when she grabbed a second sword and walked back over to him. He said cautiously, "Nobody can fight with two longswords. Two weapons of the same length are going to get in each others way and you'll only end up hurting yourself."

Erza spat, "Shut up and fight me."

Natsu shrugged and raised his weapons, "Suit yourself."

She initiated the attack this time, coming in high and low with her weapons. Natsu picked off the high one with his shield and knocked the low one away with his sword before stepping forward to try and punch Erza with the pommel of his sword. She jerked her head to the side and brought both swords around in and attacked his middle from both sides. He had to jump back to avoid her strike and when the swords had harmlessly passed him he brought his sword up and swung overhand at her. She brought her swords up quickly and had them in a crossed X to catch his blade.

He'd anticipated this and the moment she did he swung his shield trying to hit her with the edge of it. It connected with her right arm and she stumbled backwards. Natsu tried to capitalize on it but she'd recovered and was coming at him with a series of short savage thrusts trying to overwhelm his defenses. Natsu was caught off guard and had trouble defending against them, backpedaling as he tried to knock them all away. He grimaced and thought, 'I've never seen anything like this before. How do those blades not get tangled up with each other?'

He was surprised when she suddenly switched from thrusting to a series of lightning fast cuts that came in from varied angles. They bounced off of his sword and shield and then came back in at a different angle, making it incredibly difficult to keep blocking. Natsu decided it was his turn to on the offensive so he jumped backwards as two of her strikes came in and she stumbled forward slightly due to her momentum. She recovered just as he'd rushed back in and sent his own series of attacks her way. Her twin swords worked in concert to defeat each attack as she slowly backed away.

They kept fighting around the training yard, neither of them able to gain an advantage. All of the guards had come to a complete standstill, even the guard captains, to watch the incredibly feat of swordplay. The fact that someone, a woman no less, was pushing Natsu to the limit was incredible. Doing it with two swords instead of the traditional sword and shield was a feat verging on legendary. All of the guards watched in awe as they fought around the training yard for twenty minutes straight. A pair of piercing red eyes were also watching and Gajeel gave a deep snort before turning to walk away and muttering, "Well Salamander, you sure know how to pick 'em."

The fight came to a sudden halt when Natsu roared and made a bull rush forward with his shield held out in front, knocking Erza over. Before he could put his blade at her throat though she kicked him in the legs and he fell over as well. Natsu rolled towards her and swung his blade from his position on the ground at her and connected, feeling it slam into the chainmail covering her chest. At the same moment though he felt one of her swords jab him in the stomach. They both came to a complete stop and stared at each other.

The training yard erupted in clapping as the guards cheered for the two. A grin slowly grew on Natsu's face as he stood up and pulled Erza up with him. He watched as the scarlet haired woman looked around at the cheering guards and saw the smile that came to her face at their cheering. He laughed, "I knew I made the right choice. Excellent. That was excellent. I have never seen anything like that in my life."

Erza blushed at the praise, "Really? Fighting with two swords is that uncommon?"

Natsu exclaimed excitedly, "Uncommon? To my knowledge it's never been done! You are a one of a kind swordsman… woman."

The scarlet haired woman shrugged, "It's how I fought during the rebellion in Crocus."

He asked her, "Why did you switch to sword and shield then, if you're this good at using two swords?"

She laughed, "That's the predominant style of the knight, so I figured that I would have to learn it make it onto the castle guard."

Natsu replied, "You're probably right, but I don't care, you can use whatever weapons you want if you're that good. That's a damn unique style and I'm not letting you leave the guard even if you want to."

Erza laughed again, "Well, I don't think I want to go anywhere so you won't have a problem with that."

The pink haired knight grinned as he began stripping off his shield and chainmail, "Good. But, we have to go on duty soon so I have some things I need to explain. We should get going."

Erza nodded and took off her practice gear before following him back into the castle. They went back up to their floor and headed into the guards quarters. Natsu said, "Alright, time for a bath. I'll explain everything in there."

Erza stiffened and didn't follow as he headed to their room and stuttered… "I… I… ha…have to bathe with you?"

Natsu ignored her and went into their room and exited a moment later carrying a set of clothes for him and some for her. He tossed them to her and she caught them on reflex as he said, "Well, the guards have one room for bathing, and none of us have anything to be shy about."

He laughed as he walked out of the room and she mutely followed him. They went down the hall and a flight of steps before walking into a small plain room that had two bathtubs in it. Natsu went over to one of them and fiddled with a knob and in short order water began to pour out. He stuck his hand under it to make sure it was the right temperature and nodded to himself. Erza couldn't help but be curious and asked, "How does that work? I've never seen a bathtub like that."

Natsu shrugged, "Hell if I know. The engineer that built this castle was a genius. All I know is that they have criminals in the basement working some cranks and the result is hot water all the way up here."

He took off his shirt and tossed it in a hamper with his name on it and noticed that the redness had come back to Erza's face. Natsu sighed and said, "If you're really that embarrassed I can go grab a screen divider."

She nodded and Natsu left the room, coming back a few minutes later with the divider and setting it up between their bathtubs. He ignored her as she quickly went behind the divider and took off the rest of his clothes before sliding into his hot bath. He heard her do the same a moment later but he concentrated on luxuriating in the water. She said after a moment, "I can't believe I'm doing this. I can't believe I'm bathing in the same room as a man."

Natsu laughed easily, "Relax. I'm not going to attack you or anything."

Erza replied curiously, "Which surprises me. Any man that I've known would have immediately tried something. Are you married, or with someone?"

Natsu's face fell and he sighed, "I was. But not anymore."

Her voice floated over the divider, "Why not?"

He said bitterly, "She's dead."

He heard her sharp intake of breath and then she said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry."

Natsu shook his head, even though he knew she couldn't see him, and said, "Don't be. I dug into your past, it's only natural you would want to know mine."

Erza said cautiously, "So, if you don't mind me asking, what happened?"

Natsu sunk deeper into the water as he began to talk, "Well, it happened two years ago. It was my first year on the Princess's guard. I was the newest and youngest. The Queen and Princess had decided to take a trip to some backwater country I can't remember the name of…"

* * *

_Natsu tried not to let the sweat running down the back of neck bother him to much as he rode behind the other knights of the Princess' guard. They were riding two abreast on the right side of the carriage that held the princess and Queen as well as their respective handmaidens. The guards dedicated to the queen rode the same way on the other side, and a small troop of men-at-arms rode behind the party. Natsu grinned as he thought about Lisanna, who he'd asked Lucy to bring as a favor to him. Lisanna was his childhood friend turned lover and fiancée. He glanced at the carriage and could just make out through the small window her short white hair and bright smile as she talked with the other women._

_They had been out on the road for a few hours and it was the middle of the afternoon. He felt tired, even though his horse had been doing all of the work. They came to a point in the road that ran between two hills and Natsu perked up thinking, 'This is a good spot for an ambush, I should be on my guard.'_

_The carriage passed through without incident but Natsu's sigh of relief was cut short by shouting from the men-at-arms behind them still between the hills. When he looked back he could see that archers had somehow gotten onto the top of the hills and were raining arrows down on the panicked soldiers. A moment later more men on horses poured out from behind the hills and charged into the party of men at arms. Natsu's shock was broken when the leader of the princess's guards shouted, "Quickly! We must get the royal women away from here!"_

_He turned to look back at Clemas the Crusher, head of the princess' guard as he shouted orders. Quickly they'd taken the frightened Princess and Lisanna out of the carriage and set them on horses with one of their guards. Since he was the newest, Natsu got to take charge of Lisanna, not that he minded. Her safety was almost as important to him as the Princess'._

_Clemas conferred for a moment with the head of the Queen's guard as the men-at-arms bought them time behind the party before shouting, "Alright. We'll split up and try and make our way back to Magnolia. Let's go!"_

_The party with the princess broke right and the Queen's party went left. Lisanna had her arms wrapped tightly around his waist and he head buried in his neck trying to hold on as the horse flew over rough land and into the forest. He was at the back of the party and so he glanced back to see if there was any pursuit. He gulped when he saw that a party of at least twenty had broken away from the fight and was bearing down on his group of eight. _

_He yelled up to Clemas, "There's at least twenty of them coming for us!"_

_The large man turned his head to look back over his shoulder and over Lucy who was hanging on to him for dear life. Clemas cursed and said, "We won't be able to outrun them, not with two of us riding double."_

_Both the Princess and Lisanna started sniffling and Natsu could feel Lisanna's tears sliding down the back of his neck and under the collar of his chainmail. Clemas made a snap decision and yelled, "Alright. Natsu, take the Princess and the other girl ahead. The rest of us are going to fight a holding action. Jaryn! Give the girl your horse, the Princess gets mine!"_

_In the few seconds it took to get the horses situated, and as they all listened to the whoops of their attackers get closer through the woods, Natsu asked Clemas, "Are you sure? I can send them on and stay and fight with you."_

_The older man nodded and Natsu could make out a smile under his helmet, "Someone has to guard the Princess at all times. If we fall here you're her last hope to get back to Magnolia."_

_Clemas quickly pulled out his sword, the captain of the guards sword, and said, "Hand over yours boy, and hold onto this one until I get back."_

_Natsu mutely drew his and switched swords with Clemas, feeling the weight of the Guard Captain's ornate but functional sword in his hand. Clemas shouted, "Now go! We'll kill these bastards and meet you back at the city!"_

_He nudged his horse forward to where the two girls sat on theirs and nodded to his fellow guardsmen before spurring his horse forward, hearing the girls do the same behind him. A few moments later the sounds of metal crashing together and men screaming in pain sounded behind him, but soon it became faint as they put distance between the doomed guards and themselves."_

_Their horses sprinted for about a mile until Natsu slowed down and halted in a small clearing. He said, "We need to get our bearings and then head back."_

_He glanced into the sky to check the position of the sun and muttered, "So that ways north then. We've been traveling east, so… this way."_

_He was about to head in the direction he'd indicated when he heard a buzzing sound like a wasp and then something hit his helmet at high speeds. He was disoriented for a moment as the arrow bounced off of his helm but when he looked in the direction it had come from he saw two men charging out of the tree line, one of them throwing a way a bow and pulling out a sword. He yelled at the girls, "Run! I'll take care of them!"_

_He spun his horse and pulled the captains sword out and slinging his shield around from his back to his arm before charging at the two men. He attempted to get in the way of both but one went around him and the other engaged him, swinging his sword in a high overhand arc at Natsu. He blocked it and sent a lightning quick slash across the man's throat which opened it up and blood spurted out as he fell from the horse. Natsu turned just in time to see the other bandit slash at Princess Lucy and the girl dive off of her horse to avoid the sword. He spurred his horse towards her and shouted, hoping to get the man's attention. It didn't work though and the man leaned over to stab viciously down at the stunned Princess. Natsu saw a blur of movement as Lisanna threw her own body over the Princess and watched in horror as the sword pierced her back and drove through her body to stick in the ground inches from the Princess._

_He screamed and as the bandit withdrew his sword and leaned back up Natsu reached the man he swung his sword with all his strength, decapitating the man, sending his head flying and his body slumping over and off the horse._

_Natsu slugged his horse to a stop and leapt off running over to where Lisanna was now lying on her back with her head on the Princess lap. He went down to his knees and wrenched her away from the Princess, pressing his hands to the wound her back and front trying to staunch the blood. There was blood leaking out of Lisannas mouth as she coughed and said, "I don't think that's going to work now. You'd better go and get the Princess out of here."_

_Natsu felt hot tears run down his face as he said, "No. No! I'm not leaving you behind."_

_She gave a small gurgling laugh as pain wracked her body and said, "I don't think you have much of a choice Natsu."_

_He stopped trying to staunch the blood and threw his arms around her, pulling her to him and cradling her in his lap. He sobbed, "But, I love you so much. You can't leave me now. We're going to get married and have twenty kids and Mira is going to spoil all of them rotten and Elfman is going to teach them how to be men."_

_A small smile appeared on Lisanna's face as she looked into his eyes and choked out, "I love you too. I'm sorry that we can't do all those things… But you… have to remember… duty. I swore my life… to the princess just like you. Just remember… don't waste your life… because you don't…. have me…"_

_Her last words trailed off and her eyes clouded over. A moment later her head lolled to the side and Natsu pulled her close to him, not caring for the blood he was getting all over his armor, and buried his face into her hair sobbing. It was only for a few seconds though as he remembered her last words and looked up to see the Princess's tear stained and shell shocked face sitting on the ground next to him._

_He let go of Lisanna and gently placed her on the ground before walking over to the Princess and pulling her up saying, "Come. We can't let her sacrifice and the sacrifice of the others go to waste. Let's go."_

_The Princess barely responded and Natsu had to put her on her horse before mounting his own and then leading her through the woods. He glanced back at Lisanna's body lying by itself in the middle of the clearing and then looked forwards, tears staining his face but the sobs no longer wracking his body as he focused on doing his duty, just like she wanted him to._

* * *

By the time he was finished with his story Natsu had washed, dried and gotten dressed, and was leaning against the wall waiting for Erza to finish. He said quietly, "The Princess and I were the only ones to make it back. The castle sent out a war party but nobody ever found any of the bodies, Only the bloodstains in the forest and on the road."

Erza finished and came around the divider, not missing the redness in his eyes that indicated crying. She said, "I'm sorry. I… I'm sorry for making you remember that."

He gave her a small smile and said, "Don't be. I moved past it a long time ago."

Natsu turned and left saying, "Come on, it's just about time for you to really meet the Princess."

* * *

**{A/N} Hi Guys.**

**So, recently my girlfriend of 3.5 years broke up with me, so I've kind of lost a lot of motivation to write. It's kind of hard to be writing romance when the relationship I was drawing a lot of inspiration from is over. I'll try to keep updating my other stories but it'll probably be pretty slow. This one will be my main focus since the romance is going to be a slow burn and swords and shields and knights and shining armor is pretty fun to write so I've got a bit of motivation. I'm sorry if I'm disappointing people by this.**

**Thanks for reading anyways. Andril**


	3. Chapter 3

Natsu led Erza back up to the long hallway that contained the Guard's quarters and led down to the Princess'. They walked down it silently; Natsu knew that Erza was trying to give him space after his tale. When they got to the guard's quarters Erza made to go inside but Natsu chuckled, "Not quite."

He turned to the door opposite the guard's quarters and pushed it open, stepping inside. When Erza followed him he smirked at the surprised look on her face and said, "We can't guard the queen without weapons. This is the Princess's guard's personal armory."

Natsu had to admit, it was fairly impressive. It was a long narrow room, with dividers on each side dividing them into three stalls per side, and another door at the end of the room. Each of these stalls held two armor stands as well as a variety of weapons racks. One armor stand held a suit of chainmail as well as gauntlets and greaves; the other held a much heavier set of plate mail. Natsu explained, "The chainmail set is for when we are guarding the Princess around the castle or city. The plate is for if and when the Princess decides to follow the army during a war."

Erza jerked her head towards Natsu incredulously, "That is allowed?"

The pink haired man chuckled, "You can't tell the royal women what is and isn't allowed. It's happened before, so we like to be prepared."

Erza nodded and then glanced over at the stall on the end on the left side, "I'm guessing that the empty one is mine?"

Natsu chuckled and led her down to the end of the room before saying, "It is. We're going to have to get you fitted for personal arms and armor soon but for now…"

He opened the door at the end of the room and they went inside. This was a much smaller room that held an assortment of chainmail of different sizes as well as more weapons racks. Natsu explained, "We like to have extras in case of emergency. Everything you see in those stalls out there is personal arms and armor. For a few day's you'll have to wear the normal stuff."

Natsu led her over to a stack of chainmail and it took them a few minutes to find the best fit, then he found her gauntlets and greaves to go with it. Natsu grinned as they moved on to weapons, "The armorer is going to have a fit trying to tailor armor to you. I don't think he's ever made armor for women before, and your figure certainly won't make it easy on him."

Erza turned towards him with fire in her eyes, "And what exactly are you trying to say?"

Natsu had several unpleasant flashbacks in that moment before saying carefully, "I'm saying your figure is different from a man's."

She glared at him for a moment more before crossing her arms and saying, "Very well."

Erza turned back to the weapons and Natsu silently breathed a sigh of relief, 'Smooth…'

His thoughts were interrupted by Erza saying, "Were you being sincere when you said I could fight with whichever weapons I wanted?"

Natsu grinned, "Hell yes. Not everyone on the guard prefers sword and shield anyways."

The man grabbed a sword belt off of a table and found an extra scabbard, affixing it to the belt. He gave it to Erza saying, "Put it on."

She did, settling it about her middle and over the chainmail, cinching it tightly. He next pulled two longswords off of a weapons rack and handed them to her. She got the message and sheathed both of them in one smooth motion. He asked, "Does that sit right or do you need something different?"

Erza walked around the room a bit, jumped up and down, and then said, "No, I think that should work. The scabbards don't move that much when I walk so it shouldn't be a problem."

Natsu nodded and then left the room with Erza following. He went over to the stall across from Erza's empty one and began to don his own chainmail. He knew that Erza was watching him as he put on his armor with swift practiced motions. He then took his shield down from the wall, reverently wiping away the little bit of dust that had settled onto the bright red dragon. Erza suddenly asked, "So how did you get your emblem. You're definitely not part of a noble house."

Natsu chuckled as he slung the shield over his back, "It's a play on my nickname, the Salamander. I got the nickname because of my, as some people put it, fiery temper."

Erza also chuckled, "And what exactly about your fiery temper got you the nickname."

The pink haired man smiled wryly, "Let's just say that if you insult my fiancée's honor, my friends honor, or my honor, you're going to have to learn to enjoy the taste of dirt."

Erza snorted and Natsu turned back to getting ready, grabbing his own sword belt and cinching it around his waist. He then took down a sword that was hanging on the wall. The blade was of a standard longsword, but the hilt had a single large blood red ruby set in the pommel. Natsu slid it into his scabbard and noticed Erza staring at the ruby, "This is the captain's sword. The ruby is a symbol of the blood we spill and shed in defense of the Princess."

She nodded and he smiled at her, "Well, time for you to really meet the Princess."

He walked out of the room but noticed the huge smile that was breaking out on the red heads face as she followed him.

It only took them a few seconds to make their way down to the end of the hallway, where the door to the Princess' chambers was. Natsu knocked once, then twice, then three times, and then opened the door. As he walked in he said over his shoulder, "That's how we let whoever is on guard know that we're coming in. Otherwise you might find yourself on the wrong end of a sword."

They entered a small antechamber that had little more than a few chairs in it. There were windows on both sides of the room letting the noon sun in, and in one of the chairs sat an angry looking Gray Fullbuster. Natsu grinned at him and said, "What's got you in such a fine mood on such a fine day."

The raven haired man stood up and stretched, his chainmail rustling, and said, "I've been here for eight hours 'cause I lost a bet to Laxus. I'm bored out of my mind and I need sleep. Having to do the tournament and an eight hour shift is awful."

Natsu walked up to him and clapped him on the shoulder, "Well, maybe next time you won't get your ass kicked."

Grey growled at him, not noticing Erza entering the room behind Natsu, "Shut up, I can't believe I lost to a girl, someone must have messed with my equipment or something."

The raven haired man jumped when Erza's voice rang out, "Do you want to say that to my face?"

He finally glanced over Natsu's shoulder and saw Erza. He asked quizzically, "Who the hell are you?"

Natsu stepped back and slung an arm around Erza's shoulder, "Gray, meet Erza Scarlet. She's the newest member of the Princess' Guard, and also the one that beat you yesterday."

Gray's mouth opened and closed a few times, and then he quietly said, "Natsu. You didn't."

Natsu grinned, "That's what you get for not staying for the whole tournament."

Gray shook his head and snorted, "Gajeel and Elfman told me that I lost to a girl, but those bastards didn't tell me that you'd gotten her on the guard. I bet they just wanted to see the look on my face. You didn't use your request from the king for this did you?"

The pink haired man chuckled, "You bet I did. Otherwise her head would have been on a chopping block."

Gray shook his head again, "Well, better that than your other request."

Natsus face hardened and he said, "You're tired Gray. Go to bed."

The raven haired man laughed and walked past them out of the room, "Don't mind if I do."

When he'd left a room Erza asked him, "What was he talking about? What is your other request?"

Natsu turned his back to her and stared out one of the windows before saying, "I wanted the king to carve Lisannas name into the memorial for the guards that give their life in defense of the royal family. When I won the first tournament after Lisanna died, that was my request to the king, and he denied it. He also denied it the second time. If he denied it a third time, then in the ancient traditions I would have the right to challenge him to a duel that he is honor bound to accept. I was either going to force him to do it, or kill him."

He turned to see the shocked look on Erza's face and she said quietly, "But you used your request to save my life, and put me on the guard."

Natsu smiled at her and walked over to put a hand on her shoulder, "Anything that pisses off the king is good in my book, besides, I disagree with his complete dismissal of women fighters. Now come on, enough with this depressing stuff. It's time for you to meet the Princess."

He turned to the door to the inner chambers and walked over to it. Erza expected him to knock and ask to be let in but instead the pink haired man turned the doorknob and barged into the inner rooms saying loudly, "Guess who it is Luce!"

Erza gaped when she heard the voice of the Princess respond, "Damnit Natsu! You scared the hell out of me! How many times have I told you to stop barging in on me like that?"

The red headed woman hurriedly stepped through the door to see Natsu standing in the middle of a large room grinning while Princess Lucy sat on her bed berating him her voice rising with each word, "You'd think after two years of this crap you'd be done with it! I'm lying here trying to enjoy a book and you decide you're going to burst in and scare the crap out of me! I wish that girl yesterday had beaten you so you'd learn a little bit of humility!"

She punctuated her last statement by throwing a rather heavy book at Natsu. The knight ducked and it flew by him, hitting Erza squarely in the face. She bent over and clutched her face as Natsu began laughing and she heard Princess Lucy stand up and say, "Oh no! I'm so sorry! Are you alright?"

Erza straightened back up and took her hands away from her face, checking them for blood before saying, "Yes Your Highness I am. My nose isn't bleeding or broken so I'm fine."

The Princess hurried across the room in a swirl of silk and Erza stood stock still as two small hands came out and cupped her face, and the Princess examined where she had accidentally struck Erza with the book, "You're right it doesn't look bad. Please forgive me… I seem to have forgotten your name as well."

The Princess put her hands down and her brown eyes were wide with guilt so Erza said, "My name is Erza Scarlet, Your Highness, and there is nothing to forgive. I should have gotten out of the way of the book."

The beautiful blonde princess sighed and stepped back. Erza finally got a good look at her. She was almost half a foot shorter than Erza's 5'10'', and her long blonde hair reached nearly to the middle of her back. Today she was wearing a blue dress that sat elegantly on her slender frame, just tight enough to show a hint of curves but not quite enough to be indecent. She had a smile on her face as she said, "Erza Scarlet, that's right. That idiot over there had you placed on the guard. I'm glad that you decided to stay."

Erza gave a low bow and said over Natsu's protest at the Princess choice of words, "It has been my dream to serve you, Your Highness. I can only hope I live up to your expectations."

A gentle hand was placed under Erza's chin and the Princess drew her head up until they were face to face, "You don't have to be so formal. None of my guards are, and I like it better that way."

Erza stood straight up and said stiffly, "If you say so, Your Highness."

Princess Lucy laughed and glanced at the mildly peeved Natsu, "If he makes your life difficult in any way, just come to me. I know exactly how to deal with him."

This made Erza crack just a tiny smile and the Princess turned from her, hearing Natsu whine, "Come on Luce, I'm hungry. Let's go get some food."

The Princess looked at him imperiously and said, "I have matters of state to attend to. You shall have to find your food elsewhere."

A grin broke out on Natsu's face, "No you don't. You don't have anything like that until next week."

Lucy sighed and waved her hand in defeat, "Fine, let's go then."

Natsu laughed and started walking towards the door, "You know you love going to Fairy Tail Luce."

Erza watched a smile break out on the Princess face as she said, "Of course I do. It's just being there with you that I object to."

The Princess and Natsu walked out of the room continuing their playful banter and Erza followed them, listening in shock as the Princess and her guard traded insults. She interrupted as they walked down the halls of the castle, "Natsu! How can you be so rude to the Princess?"

The pink haired man glanced back from his position beside the Princess as they walked, "This isn't rude. What was rude was Luce throwing that book at me."

The Princess lightly nudged his arm, "Not any more rude than you bursting into my room and scaring me."

Natsu grinned at her and then said to Erza, "This is pretty normal for us. We've known each other for a long time. It's just something that friends do."

Erza's eyes widened, "You're friends with the Princess? I thought you were just a guard?"

Natsu laughed, "Everyone on the guard is friends with the Princess. You can't put your whole heart into something you don't believe in, and we all believe that laying down our lives for the Princess is worth it, because she's our friend."

Erza could see a blush rising on the Princess face as she turned to Erza, "What he means to say, is that I know what the guard sacrifices for me, and so I want to be friends with them. I have to assure myself that I'm someone worth sacrificing for."

Natsu slung an arm around the Princess shoulders and laughed, "Of course you are Luce."

The three continued walking through the castle, eventually making their way out into the city proper. Natsu and Princess Lucy continued their friendly banter, and slowly Erza began to relax and loosen up, even joining in with a comment or two. When they got to the streets outside the castle, Natsu seemed to become more serious and alert, never stopping his teasing of Lucy, but his eyes moving side to side, searching for any threat to the Princess.

Erza was surprised when Lucy stopped at many roadside stalls along the roads they walked. She chatted with many of the people working, and many random people on the streets. All of them seemed to know the Princess, like this had happened many times before. Erza leaned over to Natsu and whispered, "What is she doing?"

He whispered back, eyes never ceasing their roaming, "Lucy comes down here at least once a week. She likes to talk to people. She's of the mind that if she's going to rule them one day, then she has to get to know them."

Erza glanced at the ground, remembering how a certain blue-haired man had acted around his subjects back in Crocus. She was jerked out of her reverie when the Princess moved on and both her and Natsu followed. They walked for another half of a mile and finally came to a large building set slightly back from the street. It had a small fence around a grassy yard and a gate with a sign over it that said **FAIRY TAIL**.

Natsu and the Princess seemed to smile a little brighter as they stood in front of it and then eagerly began to walk towards the door of the building. Natsu beckoned Erza to hurry up and she did, keeping up with their fast pace. When they reached the doors Erza was again shocked when Natsu kicked them open and yelled, "Guess who's here!"

Erza stepped up beside Natsu and Princess Lucy just in time to see and hear the dozens of patrons in the bar yell, "It's the Princess!"

Natsu grinned and said with mock anger, "Hey! You guys are supposed to be excited to see me! Not her!"

Erza saw a small old man sitting at the bar with a mug as big as his head in his hand shout, "Natsu, we only like you because you bring the Princess around."

Erza was shocked but the pink haired man grinned and said, "Shut up and go back to your ale old man, and if anyone spikes the Princess' drink again, I'm going to throw you off the castle walls."

The entirety of the tavern, Erza had finally realized what it was, laughed and cheered, turning back to their mugs and conversations. To Erza, the entire exchange seemed almost like a ritual. She flinched when she felt a hand grab hers and Natsu was suddenly dragging her to the bar, with the Princess following. They went over to the bar and Natsu sat down, gesturing for Erza to sit next to him as the Princess sat on the other side. The pink haired man waved at the beautiful white haired bartender who was at the other end of the bar and shouted, "Mira! We'll have the usual!"

The woman waved in acknowledgement and went into the back. The tiny old man that Natsu had yelled at earlier, as well as a much taller man came over to them. Erza got a better look at both of them. The small one was bald on top but had some white hair left, as well as a bushy white mustache. The other was a powerfully built man, at least half a foot taller than her, with orange hair and what looked to be a perpetual five o'clock shadow. Both of them came up and Natsu and Lucy turned around to greet them. The two men bowed to Lucy and then said, "We're glad you came Your Highness."

Erza had turned around by now and saw the Princess smile warmly, "I enjoy coming here Makarov, Gildarts."

Both of the men noticed Erza sitting next to Natsu and the tiny old man, Makarov, asked, "Natsu. Who the hell is this?"

Gildarts followed with, "Is she your new girlfriend. I have to say Natsu you sure picked a cut…"

He was cut off when Natsu hopped out of his chair and punched the man in the face, sending him crashing into a pillar. The pink haired man said, "Get your mind out of the gutter you perverted old man. This is Sir Erza Scarlet, the newest knight on the Princess' Guard."

Makarov gaped for a moment and then coughed to cover his surprise before saying, "Damnit Natsu, You've got to stop tweaking the King's nose like that."

Natsu frowned, "He'll get over it. Now, Erza. This is General Makarov Dreyar, He's the strategic head of the Army."

By this time Natsu was done introducing Makarov, Gildarts had come back up and Natsu said, "And this is Gildarts Clive, the field commander of the army, and a perverted old man."

Erza nodded at the both of them and said, "It's very nice to meet you."

They both nodded back at her but Gildarts asked Natsu, "Are you sure she's qualified? I know that she put up a good showing in the tournament yesterday, but that doesn't make her good enough to be on the guard. Are you sure you weren't doing it just to piss the king off."

Erza bristled at his comments but Natsu defended her, "We tied in a practice duel this morning, so yeah, she's good enough."

The entire bar went silent, they'd all apparently been listening in, and Gildarts let out a surprised, "Really? And you were going all out?"

Natsu nodded and grinned, "Oh yeah. She's amazing. She fought with the standard sword and shield for a bit but couldn't touch me, then out of nowhere she picks up a second longsword and gives me one of the toughest bouts I've ever fought. I wouldn't care to fight her for real."

Everyone in the bar looked at her in awe, even the Princess, and Gildarts said, "Wow. Alright then. Welcome to Fairy Tail, Sir Scarlet, we're glad to have you here."

The two men nodded to Erza again, a tad more respectfully this time, and went back to their end of the bar. The tavern slowly began to fill with noise again, although Erza did notice people staring at her. Natsu, Lucy, and Erza all turned back to the bar just in time for the white haired barmaid to return with two plates of food. She set them down in front of Natsu and Lucy before introducing herself to Erza, "Hello, my name is Mirajane Strauss, I'm the barmaid here."

Erza smiled at her and said, "I am Erza Scarlet, newly appointed to the Princess' Guard."

The news, which had been surprising everybody, only merited a raised eyebrow from the white haired woman. Mirajane turned to Natsu who was busy eating the food in front of him like there was no tomorrow and said, "Is that true Natsu?"

The pink haired man nodded instead of answering because he had half of a chicken leg stuck in his mouth at the time. Mirajane asked, "How did that happen?"

Natsu hastily swallowed the chicken and said, "I won the tournament yesterday and used my request to make it happen. Erza disguised herself as a man and entered the tournament, and made it all the way to the finals. We unhorsed each other on the first pass so we fought with swords and I accidentally knocked her helmet off. Imagine my surprise that she's a woman! Anyways, I beat her and the king, being his normal jack-ass self, is going to take Erza away and kill her. I used my request for winning to spare her life, make her a knight, and put her on the guard."

Erza watched Mirajane take in Natsu's story, and then was surprised when a dreamy expression passed over Mirajane's face, "It's like a real Fairy Tail! The knight saves his lady from certain death, and they can't help but fall madly in love and have twenty children!"

Erza blushed crimson but Natsu just sighed, apparently used to Mirajane's antics, "It's not like that Mira, not ever again."

He got up, leaving some of his food behind, and stalked over to join a table that had three other men at it. Two were the guards that Erza had seen yesterday with the Princess. Both were large hulking men with broad shoulders, although one had short spiky black hair, and the other had white hair. The third man had the same build as the first two, but had a very distinctive scar shaped like a lightning bolt running from his forehead, across one of his eyes and down his cheek. His spiky hair was much more yellow when compared the Princess golden hair. None of the men wore armor although all were armed. The white haired man and blonde both wore longswords at their hips. The black haired man had a giant two-handed sword, not the normal color of steel but jet black, that he wore casually strapped across his back.

Erza turned back to the bar to see a sad look cross Mirajane's face. Lucy moved one seat closer to Erza, taking Natsu's vacated one and asked, "What's got him in such a bad mood. He seemed fine earlier."

Mirajane frowned and said, "I don't know precisely, but if I had to guess…"

Erza interrupted her, "I think I may know."

Both the women turned their heads to look at her expectantly and she continued, "I asked him about his past earlier, and he told me about his Fiancée."

Erza couldn't quite interpret the look that came over the barmaid's face as she said, "Ah. Anything to do with my sister generally depresses him. Maybe I shouldn't have tried to play matchmaker today."

A chagrined look came over the scarlet haired woman's face and she looked down at the counter, "I'm sorry, I did not mean to cause any trouble."

Mirajane looked at her and then smiled sweetly, "Don't worry about it. I came to terms with her death a long time ago, it seems that Natsu still hasn't let go of the past. I don't blame him though. We've known him since he was five or so. That was about the time Gildarts adopted him and he started to come around Fairy Tail. He and Lisanna became instant best friends, and as they grew up it evolved into love. I can't really blame him for still not being over it."

Erza was about to reply when her stomach rumbled and both Mirajane and the Princess laughed before Mirajane said, "Would you like something to eat?"

Erza glanced away embarrassedly, "I don't want to be any trouble."

Lucy smiled at her and said, "We're all friends here, it's no trouble at all. Why don't you try the strawberry cake, I find it to be particularly good."

The scarlet haired woman glanced at both of them before acquiescing, and Mirajane left to get her cake. Lucy glanced around before leaning in to Erza and whispering conspiratorially, "So. What are your intentions towards Natsu?"

Erza's face turned a light shade of pink and she said, "He is a very handsome man, but my situation is… much too complicated for anything of that nature. From the sound of it he isn't looking for anything like that either. Besides, wouldn't that be a conflict of interest and hamper us when doing our duty?"

Princess Lucy leaned over the bar and sipped at her drink before replying, "It probably is a conflict, but I wouldn't be concerned about it. But honestly, I think Natsu deserves somebody to make him happy, and so do you. Everyone deserves to be happy and find a little bit of love in the world, don't you think?"

Erza was mildly taken aback by the Princess and hesitated to speak. Lucy smiled at her and said, "Ah, don't mind me. Natsu hates it when I go off on romantic tangents like that. I'm going to have to marry some prince that I've never met in a few years, so I have to live vicariously through everybody else."

Erza sighed, reminded slightly of her situation back in Crocus, and said, "Well. I do not think you'll be able to live a love life vicariously through me. "

By this time Mirajane had returned and set a small piece of strawberry cake down in front of Erza. The scarlet haired woman picked up the fork that came with it and nonchalantly cut a small piece off and put it in her mouth. When she did she stopped for a moment, and a rapturous expression came over her face. Mirajane and Lucy looked at her expectantly and Erza said, "This is the best thing I have ever eaten in my life."

The knight dug in, eating the piece of cake in five seconds flat before saying, "Please, may I have another?"

Mirajane and Lucy giggled and the white haired woman said, "Of course," before hurrying off to grab another slice.

A sudden angry shout came from behind Erza and in a moment the red head was standing between Lucy and the noise, with her hands on the hilts of her swords. What she saw confused her. Natsu and the three men he had been sitting with were currently in the middle of the guild in an all-out brawl. Erza slowly relaxed and went back to her seat asking Lucy, "What the hell are they doing?"

The Princess glanced back at them but didn't pay them much attention, "They do that most of the time we come in here. It's just their way of blowing off steam. Plus, a good fight will help put Natsu back in a good mood."

Erza glanced at the brawl, where the black haired man was currently punching Natsu in the face, and replied, "If you say so. Shouldn't he be more focused on guarding you though?"

The Princess chuckled, "When I'm in here everybody is my bodyguard. Everybody that frequents this place is a high-ranking military officer or a knight, or their families. This is probably the safest place for me to be outside of the castle."

Erza looked around and examined everybody in the tavern. Lucy was right, all of the men had the look of hardened warriors, and many of them were armed. Mirajane returned with the cake and Erza made sure to eat this piece slower, savoring it. She asked, "So, who are the three that Natsu is fighting with?"

Lucy glanced over and said, "I'm surprised you don't already know. That's 'Lightning Bolt' Laxus, 'Black Steel' Gajeel, and 'Beast Arm' Elfman. Together with 'Frostbite' Fullbuster, the Salamander, and now you, they make up my personal guard."

Erza's eyes widened as she looked back at the brawl and took in the features of the three men that were fighting Natsu. A thought popped through her head and a frown graced her face, "They're all famous knights, with recognized names. I'm just a nobody that was lucky enough to get put on the guard."

Lucy smiled at her and said, "Nonsense. I'm sure that you'll have a chance to earn your name soon enough."

Erza glanced at her and asked, "Natsu told me how he got his nickname, the Salamander, how did the others get theirs?"

Lucy looked around thoughtfully before telling her about each of the other men on the guard.

Laxus Dreyar, the blonde, had gotten his moniker during a tournament. The grandson of General Makarov Dreyar, he was already an up and coming knight. It was an overcast day, and he had made it to the final joust of his first tournament. While he'd been holding his lance straight up, a bolt of lightning had come down from the sky and struck him. Everybody wanted to cancel the joust but he toughed it out, kept going, and won. That, combined with the distinctive lightning shaped scar across his face that the lightning strike had given him, earned him his nickname.

Gajeel Redfox, the man with short spiky black hair, had earned his fighting in the army. When the kingdom had been invaded three years ago he had led a small force into the enemy camp and slain Antonyk the Red Baron, considered at the time to be the preeminent fighter on the continent, in single combat. He'd taken his signature jet-black two handed sword from the Red Baron's corpse as spoils of war, and it earned him the nickname, 'Black Steel'.

Gray Fullbuster, the guard she had met earlier, earned his nickname for his cold personality, as well as the ice water that ran through his veins. During the same war that Gajeel had earned his fame, Fiore's army had been besieging a city in the dead of winter. Under cover of a blizzard, armed only with a longsword, Gray had singlehandedly scaled the city walls and opened the gates, allowing the army to take the city.

Elfman had earned his for one simple reason. One day while out in the woods with some members of the army, they had been attacked by a bear. Instead of running like his friends, Elfman had instead punched the bear one time in the head, killing it instantly. For that he was given the name, 'Beast Arm'.

Erza sat in awe as Lucy told the stories and when she was done glanced back at the four men who were still brawling with new found respect. Lucy said, "I'm sure that one of these days you will have your chance to earn your own name, and fame."

Erza smiled at her, "Maybe. I'm just happy to be serving you as one of your guards."

They sat and chatted companionably, the stiffness and formality that Erza had shown earlier had melted away. By this time she was on her third piece of cake, the scarlet haired woman couldn't get enough of her new favorite food. Out of nowhere a mug flew through the air and knocked the piece of cake off of the bar. Erza watched as it fell to the floor and splattered against it. Lucy started to say, "Oh Dea…"

But was interrupted when the red head stood up with fire in her eyes and roared, "Natsu!"

All eyes in the bar turned to her and the four men in the middle of the room even stopped brawling to stare at her. She growled menacingly, "You have destroyed my new found passion and joy, strawberry cake. Death is the only fit punishment for all four of you."

Everyone in the room felt a nervous shiver go up their spines and had the exact same thought as they watched Erza rampage over her fellow guards, 'She'll do just fine.'


	4. Chapter 4

In the following two weeks, Erza learned the ins and outs of being part of the Princess' Guard. The guards got back to their tightly maintained schedule after its disruption by the tournament. Each pair of guards, Natsu and Erza, Laxus and Gray, Elfman and Gajeel, had an eight hour shift every day. Natsu, being captain, took the hours between eight in the morning and four in the afternoon, as those were the times the Princess was most likely to be outside the castle and exposed. This meant that Erza also had those hours. Gajeel and Elfman had the hours between four in the afternoon and midnight. Laxus and Gray (Due to Laxus not caring and Gray making Natsu angry every other day) had the hours from midnight to eight in the morning. Since the Princess was nearly always sleeping during those times, the two divided it into four hour shifts and took one apiece.

The rest of Erza's schedule was quite demanding. She would get up with Natsu at least two hours before they were to go on duty to train every day. As soon as the two passed the Princess off to Gajeel and Elfman, they would go train a squad of regular castle guardsmen. Most of them had been rather mutinous at having to train with the red headed woman, or worse be taught swordplay by her, but after she had thoroughly beaten each of them in swordfights, they'd been much more eager. After dinner she had as much free time as she liked, but generally stayed in the guard's quarters, or accompanied Natsu to Fairy Tail. After they got over their surprise, the regulars at the tavern quickly warmed up to Erza. She got to know all of them quite well in a short span of time.

Most surprising to her was Makarov. After his seemingly cold reception of her, he'd been the quickest to accept her. She quickly learned that he was nearly as perverted as Gildarts, teasing her at almost every chance at the fact that she shared a room with Natsu, but was also a warm and kind man. He had started teaching her how to play chess, claiming that it would make her a better warrior, and that was where she found herself on many a night.

Erza stared down at the checkered board in frustration. Somehow, in only a few moves the elderly man had managed to trade two of his pawns, a rook, and a bishop for her queen, both knights, and both rooks. The red headed woman cursed, "Damnit! How do you keep doing that?"

The small man cackled as he took her piece, "I've been playing this game a long time. I know what you're going to do before you do it."

Erza frowned, "How can you know what I'm going to do?"

General Makarov leaned back in his chair and grabbed his mug of ale, taking a sip before saying, "It's all about getting inside of your opponents mind. I make one move, and then you make one move, and then I can see, from how you moved, what you're going to do next. Are you aggressive? Do you like to hoard your resources and be cautious? Are you willing to sacrifice pieces in order to push ahead? I look at you, and I try and answer those questions. If I answer them correctly, I win."

Erza was about to reply when a heavy hand came down on her shoulder and Natsu's voice sounded behind her, "Is the old man spouting his chess nonsense again?"

Makarov smirked and as Erza turned her head to glare up at Natsu he said, "Maybe if you'd listened to me you would have won more than three games against me in the last ten years."

Natsu only shook his head and chuckled, "No one can get inside your head old man. Besides, last time I beat you, you were so drunk you thought I was the Princess. It still took me three hours and losing most of my pieces to win!"

Makarov chuckled, "One day boy, you'll have to get better at this game."

The pink haired knight smirked and said, "I'll get better at this game when you stop drinking old man. Come on Erza, we need to get back up to the castle. We're taking the last part of Gajeel and Elfman's shift so that you have time to get your armor fitted tomorrow."

The red head nodded and stood up saying to Makarov, "Why don't we call this one a draw?"

The old man just shook his head and shooed the two away. Erza followed Natsu out into the streets. The sun was nearly down and twilight had silenced the normally bustling city. Natsu was saying something but the red head wasn't paying attention. She was deep in thought about another silent city that she'd been in, one not nearly so pleasant, 'Magnolia, at least, doesn't have the lingering smells of blood and death drifting through the air.'

"Oi! Erza! Are you listening to me?"

Natsu's outburst jerked her from her reverie and said somewhat acidly, "No, not really. I do not appreciate being talked to so rudely either!"

The pink haired man's face betrayed his shock for a second until a frown graced his lips and he turned away from her, continuing on to the castle while grumbling, "What's your problem? You seemed fine earlier."

Erza took a deep breath and then sighed, "I'm sorry. I was just thinking."

Natsu didn't turn back to her but he said, "Always a good thing to do."

The red head could tell from the set of his shoulders that he wanted her to continue, "The city is so still, it reminds me of something from a long time ago."

"And that something put you in such a bad mood that quickly?"

Erza frowned at the man's back as they passed through a small gate in the outer wall of the castle, "It's not something I generally care to remember."

The pair walked through the castle until they came to their personal armory. As Natsu walked in he turned to her and said, "So you can dig up my worst memory but you won't tell me yours?"

Erza stopped and was speechless, staring at the intense look on the knight's face. She sputtered, trying to find something to say when Natsu winked at her and his lips twitched minutely, threatening to break out into a smile. Erza's eyebrows shot up and she said angrily, "You were messing with me?"

Natsu threw back his head and laughed before saying, "Of course. What kind of ass do you think I am?"

The red head threw a punch at his face but he ducked and ran into the armory while she yelled back at him, "A very large one!"

The two quickly put on their armor, Erza could hear Natsu still chuckling and grumbled under her breath, "I'm going to get him one of these days. Perhaps rocks in his pillow, his head is so hard they won't hurt, much…"

With that cheering thought in mind she finished and the two left, quickly making their way to the Princess' room. Natsu knocked one, twice, and thrice, and then quickly went through the door. Gajeel and Elfman were sitting on either side of a table, their chairs knocked over and forgotten as they were leaned over the table, hands locked together in an arm wrestling battle. The knock had apparently startled Elfman and as soon as Natsu stepped into the room Gajeel was able to slam Elfman's hand straight into the table. While Elfman sobbed manly tears over his loss, Erza still didn't understand why he considered crying to be manly; Gajeel grinned and said to Natsu, "Third time today. If this keeps up I just might take that Beast Arm title from him."

Erza snorted and a pair of red eyes settled on her before Gajeel's gravelly voice sounded again, "You got something to say Red?"

"Can't you find anything productive to do with your downtime?"

The black haired man smirked, "I'm about to go do something productive. There's a little lady I haven't seen in a while, and a night off is just what I need to… rekindle the fire."

It took Erza a moment to get what he meant but as soon as she did color rose in her cheeks and she sputtered a few words before turning away from Gajeel and crossing her arms. Black Steel laughed and gave Natsu a mock salute before striding out of the room. Elfman followed him, tears abated, and Erza could hear him trying to arrange a rematch before Natsu closed the door behind them. Natsu chuckled and said, "You should stop letting him embarrass you so much. You do know what's going on there right?"

Erza turned up her nose at him and said primly, "I don't make it my business to know what sordid affairs my compatriots are involved in."

Natsu went over and picked up one of the chairs, setting it upright and sitting down before saying, "There's nothing sordid about it. He's very respectfully courting one of the Princess' handmaidens. When he wants to marry I can have him transferred out of the guard and into a different position so that it becomes possible."

Erza was dumbstruck for a moment, "You mean Gajeel can do something respectfully?"

This made Natsu throw back his head and laugh, holding his belly as he snorted and tried to stop before saying breathlessly, "I think that's about the only thing."

The inner door to the Princess' bedroom opened and a blonde head came out, "I thought I heard your dulcet tones Natsu. What are you two doing here?"

The pink haired man grinned at Lucy, "We took the last half of Gajeel and Elfman's shift so that Erza can get her armor fitted tomorrow. The master armorer has been an absolute nightmare to schedule with and tomorrow during our normal shift was the only time I could pin him down to."

Lucy nodded like she'd heard that one before and said, "Well, keep it down? I'm going to bed early because I have that breakfast with the Prince from Minstrel tomorrow morning."

Natsu frowned, "What do you think of him?"

The same frown passed over Lucy's face, "He's pimply, he has greasy hands, and those hands try to go places where they shouldn't!"

The pink haired knight grimaced and then said, "Well, I'll tell Gajeel and Elfman to be extra intimidating tomorrow."

The Princess sighed before admonishing, "I can fight my own battles Natsu."

Natsu grinned at her, "I know that. It doesn't hurt to have a few good swords at your back though."

Lucy smiled at him, "No, I guess it doesn't. Goodnight Natsu, Erza."

Both of them said their goodnights and the door closed, the lock clicking audibly a moment later. Erza turned to Natsu and said, "Well… now what?"

Natsu scratched his head and glanced around the room, "Well… Luce will sometimes let me have a book to read but she's already gone, and I doubt you want to arm wrestle."

Erza snorted and muttered under her breath, "Men…" before saying a bit louder, "You did interrupt my chess game earlier, it only seems right that you play a game or two with me to make up for it."

Natsu chuckled, "You just think I'll be an easy match from what the old man said."

The red head smiled predatorily, "Then prove me wrong."

A similar smile spread over Natsu's face as he said, "I do love a challenge. There's a chess set in the cabinet."

In short order they'd gotten out the chess board and set it up. Natsu grabbed the white and black king, putting them behind his back for a moment and then held out his closed hands, "You choose."

Erza deliberated for a moment before picking his right hand. It opened to reveal the white king and Natsu said, "Guess you're first."

They replaced the kings and sat down. Erza stared at the board for a moment before reaching forward to move one of her pawns. Natsu chuckled and matched her movement. They continued quickly, Natsu matching each one of her movements, leaving openings in his defense that Erza was quick to take advantage of. It was a quick game, Erza checkmating Natsu within 10 minutes. The pink haired man laughed, "Well, looks like you beat me."

Erza glared at him, "You threw that game. There's no way you're that bad at chess. I've only been playing for two weeks and even I know that you barely tried."

Natsu gave a devilish smile, "Are you sure? I could just be bad at the game."

The red headed woman continued to glare, "If you don't take me seriously I'm going to throw water on you every night for the next month while you sleep."

The pink haired knights waved his hands in a gesture of surrender, "Fine, no need to get so angry. Just remember, you asked for this."

They reset the board and as the loser, Natsu took white for the second game. This was also a short game, but in a brutal sort of way for the red head. Natsu beat Erza in five moves.

"Again!"

They switched colors and this time it took seven moves.

Erza stared at the board as her king was surrounded by Natsu's pieces. She then glanced up at the smug look on his face and said, "What the hell? You're better than General Makarov at this game!"

Natsu leaned back in his chair and smirked, "Yep."

The red head glared at him, "Why the hell are you hiding it?"

Natsu grinned at her, "For when I need favor, or when I want to make a bet. Challenge the old man to a chess game and then surprise him. It'll only work once though so I have to figure out what I want to win from the old man."

Erza shook her head, "You're insane. You intentionally lose at a game for years… just to win some hypothetical future bet."

The pink haired knight gave her a feral smile, "Oh yes."

Erza snorted, "I don't know what goes on in your head."

The Salamander tapped his temple and smirked, "Something I strive very hard to make sure doesn't change."

The red headed woman shook her head and sighed, "Shut up and set up the pieces again."

Natsu complied and they settled down to play chess until midnight when a yawning Laxus came to relieve them. The two knights fast realized how tired they were once they put their armor up and got back to their quarters, quickly going to bed. As had become their custom, Natsu put out the few candles and they both undressed in the dark. Erza shrugged off her pants and slid smoothly into bed in only a loose shirt and undergarments. It took a bit longer for Natsu to get in bed as he stumbled around the room in the dark, banging into the furniture and cursing under his breath. Erza chuckled and said softly, "If you didn't insist on having your side of the room a complete mess you wouldn't have such a hard time getting around."

Natsu cursed yet again; from the sound of it he'd stubbed his toe, "Damnit! If you didn't insist on preserving your dignity I wouldn't have this problem either!"

Erza glared at him in the darkened room, "Just because I joined a man's profession doesn't mean I have to act like one. I am still a woman, an extremely unmarried woman, so you have no right to look upon me that way."

Natsu chuckled as he finally maneuvered his way into bed, "Still on with that? Trust me; I'd rather not end up on the sharp end of a sword because I tried to do something indecent."

The red headed woman matched his chuckle and said, "Shut up and go to bed."

"Aye aye… Sir Scarlet."

Even after hearing it every day it still gave Erza a thrill to hear him say it.

The next morning Natsu woke up with the sun like he did every day. He slowly opened his eyes to find himself staring at blank stone walls with light shining off of them. A yawn escaped his lips and he sat up, rubbing his head and glancing around the room. The familiar sight of Erza drooling on her pillow brought a grin to his face and when a snore emitted from her a moment later he put his hand over his mouth to stifle a chuckle, 'It's the same every morning.'

Natsu got up and stretched before rummaging around in a drawer for clothes. When he was dressed he went over to Erza's bad and gently shook her shoulder saying, "It's morning, time to get up!"

The woman rolled over and swatted at him mumbling, "No it isn't, morning isn't until tomorrow."

Natsu smiled as the already familiar ritual unfolded, "If you don't get up I'll dump a bucket of water on you."

Just like every other day, Erza's eyes popped open and she said, "I'm up! I'm up!"

The pink haired man stepped back with a chuckle and then made his way to the door saying, "Our meeting with the armorer is soon, hurry up and get dressed."

Natsu stepped through the door and shut it behind him, surveying the outer room of the guards' chambers. Gajeel and Elfman were already up, scarfing down breakfast before they had to go on duty. He went over and sat down at the table with them, "Thanks again for covering for us. The armorer is a pain in the ass to work with."

Neither Gajeel nor Elfman replied, being far too caught up in eating, but both scowled in agreement. Gajeel finished chewing a piece of toast and rumbled, "Are you still training like a maniac every day?"

The pink haired knight grinned, "Not today, but every other day, why do you think I'm better than you?"

Gajeel's eyes bored into Natsu as he growled, "You're not. It's just been a while since we seriously went at it, and besides you got lucky last time."

"If you count cleverly maneuvering you around until you got trampled by a horse as lucky then sure, I got lucky."

Elfman snickered from his side of the table, "It's unmanly to let yourself get trampled by a horse."

The black haired knight swung his head around slowly to stare at his partner, "Do you want to go for four losses in a row Elfboy?"

Natsu burst out laughing as Elfman slumped over and grumbled. The pair quickly left to relieve Gray of his duties and Erza came out of the room, ready to start the day. She wore her normal loose white shirt and knee length blue skirt. Natsu grabbed some toast and bacon, making an impromptu sandwich before standing up and saying, "Let's go, if we're late the armorer will yell at us."

Erza grabbed her breakfast and they both left, Natsu leading them through the castle. Erza asked, "Why do I keep hearing bad things about the armorer? If he's such a pain why doesn't the king fire him and get a new one?"

Natsu shrugged, "He's the best. He's just… different."

The red head shrugged and they lapsed into silence. Natsu took them down through the side entrance and over into a part of a castle grounds that Erza hadn't been before. They soon came to a large fenced in area at the edge of the grounds, where there was a large forge, smoke already rising out early in the morning. Natsu opened the gate and led Erza through. They walked into the large building that housed the forge and heard the hammering that was coming from the back, along with the mutterings that went along with the beat of the hammer, "Men… Men… Men…"

Natsu shouted, "Hey! We're here!"

The hammering stopped and soon a large man appeared. He was bigger than Gajeel and Laxus, with hard muscle rippling through his arms and shoulders twice as broad as Natsu's. His face however, was… unfortunate. He had a medium length orange hair, a square face ending in a square chin, and a huge nose. He worse heavy pants and a light shirt, with a blacksmiths apron smudged with ash. His black eyes fixed on Erza as soon as he walked into the room, "Natsu, what is this excellent parfum?"

Natsu said with a straight face, "This is Sir Erza Scarlet. She needs personal arms and armor for her position on the Princess' Guard."

The man at once became professional, "That would be one set of chainmail, one full set of plate mail, and then a longsword?"

Natsu nodded, "Two longswords. She has a unique style."

They spent about two hours hammering out details, such as Erza's personal preferences about her weapons and armor. Finally the blacksmith said, "I see… Men. The last thing I need is measurements."

Natsu nodded and gestured Erza forward, "Alright Ichiya, do your thing."

Erza stepped forward and so did Ichiya. The man towered over her and inspected her critically, "She is dressed most improperly but has an excellent parfum. I can work with this."

He pulled a marked length of rope out of the pocket of his apron and began to use it to get Erza's measurements. It went fine as he measured her waist, neck, and shoulders, but when he attempted to measure her bust she punched him in the face. Natsu sighed from the other side of the shop where he'd moved to while Ichiya did his work as Ichiya rolled around on the ground clutching his face, "He has to do it if you want well fitted armor."

Erza rounded on him and said, "Have you heard what he's been muttering this whole time?"

"No."

The red heads eyebrows scrunched together in anger, "This man has done nothing but talk about my 'parfum', whatever that is, and has even called me his honey!"

Natsu stared at her for a few moments before he burst out laughing. He bent over and put his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath but one look at the anger on Erza's face sent him into gales of laughter again. She said stiffly, "This isn't funny!"

Natsu grinned at her, "This is pretty hilarious."

Erza crossed her arms, "I refuse to allow him to touch me."

Natsu crossed his arms, with the same grin on his face, "Well. Then how do you expect perfectly fitted armor?"

The dilemma was plain on the woman's face, "You're enjoying this aren't you."

"I think it's fairly amusing."

Erza glared at him, "If you think it's so funny. You get over here and do it because this man is certainly not going to!"

A look of surprise quirked over Natsu's face, "Why Erza, I didn't know you felt that way about me."

Both of them looked down at Ichiya as he began to try and get up. Erza snorted and put a foot on his back, preventing it, then went back to the conversation, "Natsu. Remember what I said about castrating you in your sleep?"

The pink haired man frowned and walked over to grab the measuring rope while muttering, "I'm going to actually throw a bucket of water on you one of these days."

Erza uncrossed her arms and allowed him to take the needed measurement but said smugly, "If you do, I'm sure that the Princess or Makarov know a few of your weak spots."

Natsu paled as he tossed the rope back on top of Ichiya's downed body, "You fight dirty."

Erza smirked, "No dirtier than your mind is. Now, are we done here?"

Natsu glanced down at Ichiya who said weakly, "I have the measurements I need. Men. I'll have the armor ready in a week."

It was Erza that led the way back to the guard's quarters, with Natsu walking behind her and sulking. Neither of them made much noise as they made their way back to their room, Gray was fast asleep on one of the couches, wearing nothing but his boxers, and through an open door they could see Laxus sacked out on his bed. When the door was shut Erza grumbled, "I wish Gray would wear some damn clothes, or at least not sleep in the common area."

Natsu shrugged, "You live with a bunch of men. We're not quite up to your standards of cleanliness, and Gray has absolutely no sense of shame. He's been arrested three times for public indecency; if he does it again I'm going to have to kick him off the guard."

Erza blinked, "I didn't realize it was that bad. I thought he only did it here."

Natsu sat down on his bed and snorted, "It actually isn't that bad. He's pretty good about noticing when he does it in public and putting his clothes back on quickly. However, we figured out he has a stalker who keeps stealing his clothes so he has to wander around nearly naked through the town."

Erza sat down on her own bed, "Who?"

"Juvia."

The red head gasped, "No! She seems very sweet. How does one of the Princess' handmaidens find time for that anyway?"

Natsu chuckled, "I have no idea. She's completely obsessed with Gray, it's actually pretty funny. I had a talk with her, I hinted that if she kept stealing his clothes he wouldn't be around for her to see anymore, and so now every time he strips in public she jumps him and tries to force his clothes back on."

Erza had to stifle a giggle, "That's too funny. Now I have something to use against him next time he makes a snarky comment."

The pink haired Knight lay back on his bed and stretched out saying, "I think he secretly likes it. I've caught him staring at her a couple times. Pretty soon I think I'm going to have to replace all of the guys on the guard. I'd bet in the next couple years they all get married."

He heard Erza's voice drift over, "I know that Gajeel has something going on, and now Gray, but Laxus and Elfman?"

Natsu laughed morosely, "Yeah. Laxus tries to keep it secret but him and Mirajane have been seeing each other for a year now. If anyone else knew but me there'd be a big commotion over the difference in their stations but I don't give a damn. And do you remember Evergreen?"

Erza had to rack her brains to remember but finally said, "The woman who does the books for Fairy Tail? What about her."

Natsu snorted, "She's taken a shine to Elfman, and I think he has to her. He's too dense to really know what to do but I'd wager she'll have him wrapped around her finger in a matter of months."

The red heads soft laughter drifted over to Natsu, "You seem to know everything that goes on around here Natsu."

"It's my job. How am I going to keep the Princess safe if I don't have all the information that I can get. Granted, some of it may not be pertinent to her defense, but it's still good information to have. I can start thinking about their replacements, who I'm going to train up, things like that."

Erza's next question was soft and he had to strain his ears to hear, "Why don't you have someone Natsu. You said it yourself, it's been two years. You're not going to get younger, you're going to get older and slower, if you devote too much time to this job and neglect your personal life, you'll have nothing when you're finally dismissed from the Princess' service."

Natsu propped himself up on an elbow and sent her a steady look, "Are you over that guy from Crocus yet? You said it's been what, five years? Plenty of time right?"

He could see that he'd caught her off guard with his questions, "What the hell are you talking about."

Natsu laughed grimly, "You know what I'm talking about. I could tell the first time you started talking about him that you were in love with him. Hurts doesn't it, to have him betray you, try and kill you, after all you did for him. Well, it hurts worse to see them die in front of you and not be able to do a damn thing about it. You're still not over it, and neither am I."

They both lapsed into silence, both deep in thought. Their minds went spinning through memories good and bad. They didn't speak a word until Natsu glanced out the window, cleared his throat, and said, "Come on. We're taking the last part of the shift. I'll give Gajeel and Elfman a break before their shift. Plus, I have not having something to do."

He stalked out of the room before Erza could answer and into the armory, quickly donning his armor. As he was leaving, Erza came padding in and as they passed he murmured, "Sorry. I just don't like to talk about my own love life. I expect to die long before I'm too old to serve, and that's good enough for me now."

Natsu didn't wait for her reply, but he did wait for her to don her armor before they both went down the long hallway and entered the antechamber to Princess' suite. Gajeel and Elfman seemed surprised to see them, but gladly took the extra four hour break. Natsu knocked on the Princess' door after the two hulking men had left and she opened it saying, "Yes Gajeel?"

Natsu grinned, "Do I look like that metal-head to you? I'm hurt Luce."

Lucy blinked and then said, "Well if you're saying you look stupid, then frankly I think you beat out Gajeel in that category."

Natsu held a hand over his heart and said in a mocking tone, "You wound me Princess. Your words are like a barbed arrow to my heart."

The Princess smiled and looked at Erza, ignoring the pink haired knight, "And how are you today Erza? Didn't you have a meeting with the armorer?"

Erza frowned and said acidly, "If I see that man again I shall break his nose, and his arms, and then his legs for good measure."

Lucy blinked again before saying, "That's quite a strong reaction. Are you sure that he deserves… that?"

The red headed knight crossed her arms and said firmly, "Yes. Anyone that sniffs me for two hours and then calls me, 'my honey', is going to receive an armored fist to his unarmored face."

Both Natsu and Lucy chuckled and the Princess said, "If you say so. I've heard stories about him, but… I've never given them much credence."

Natsu grinned, "I told you Lucy, he's a creepy guy, but he makes the best arms and armor in the country. Now, why don't we go down to Fairy Tail and get some lunch?"

The Princess glanced at a large clock standing in the corner of the room, "It's past noon already? I guess it is time. I don't have any more commitments today, especially after that breakfast with the Prince from Minstrel. That was awful."

Natsu put a hand on her shoulder and asked, "Nothing an afternoon at Fairy Tail won't fix right?"

As it turned out, an afternoon at Fairy Tail did fix it. The three went and had lunch, the crowd was thin because most of the regular patrons had duties in the army to perform, but as soon as the sun began to set the tavern began to fill. At four o'clock, Gajeel and Elfman had come to the tavern armed and armored to begin their shift, but Natsu and Erza stayed, not wanting to go back to the castle just to remove their armor and then come back. Laxus and Gray showed up around seven and Lucy remarked, "Odd. It's pretty hard to get the entire guard in one place at the same time."

Natsu, who was sitting next to her at the time, pointed to what the two were doing. Laxus was talking to Mirajane, who was serving him a drink like normal, although there was a slight red coloring in her cheeks. Gray was casually leaning against a pillar, shirtless, talking to a blue haired girl whom both Natsu and Lucy happened to know.

"No way."

"Oh yes. It's happening."

"For how long?"

"At least a year for Laxus and Mira. Maybe a few weeks for Gray and Juvia. I think her stalking has finally paid off."

With a wink at the Princess and a finger to his lip he said, "Keep it quiet eh? Wouldn't want anything to scare the new couple."

Lucy smiled in understanding and they both went back to what they'd been doing.

Around eight, Lucy announced loudly, "Alright everyone. I think it's time that I retire. It has been a long day."

Everyone began to wish her a goodnight, but the bar was instantly silenced when the soft toll of alarm bells in the distance reached them. The tolling quickly moved closer as more and more of the alarm bells around the city began to toll. All six of the Princess' guards were on their feet immediately, and a good portion of the other men. Natsu said quietly, "I don't think the Princess is going to move until we find out what those alarm bells are for. It might be a good thing that all of the guard is here, we may need them."


	5. Chapter 5

The bar was silent for a moment and then Natsu began barking out orders, "Alright who's armed?"

About half of the men in the bar raised their hands and Natsu said, "Alright, anyone that's armed start building a barricade, use tables, chairs, whatever, just block the front door. Anyone that isn't armed, find a weapon."

He had turned around the look for Erza when the Princess grabbed his arm, "Don't you think you're over reacting? It could be anything. Besides, if I'm not in the castle, nobody will know where I am."

Natsu said shortly, "I don't take chances, and I'm planning on the worst. Now please, Your Highness, let me do my job."

Lucy took a step back at the brusqueness of his tone but he ignored it, he'd apologize later. He shouted, "Erza, Gray, get over here now."

They soon were in front of him and Natsu said, "Erza, give your armor to Gray. It should fit him well enough."

The red head growled, "What? Are you trying to keep me out of the fight? I can fight just as…"

Natsu interrupted her angrily, "You wanted to be on the guard? Follow my damned orders or I will throw you out right now!"

She looked shocked, and then began to immediately shrug out of her chainmail. When she was done Gray took it and donned it. Natsu said, "Erza. I'm not keeping you out of the fight, you have a different job. You're going out the back. You have to go up to the castle and find out what's going on."

Erza looked mildly chagrined, "Sorry. I didn't realize that's what you meant."

Natsu shrugged, "Question my orders all you want, but later. If you don't follow them immediately, people die."

She nodded and he said, "Don't stop for anything. Get to the castle, find out what's happening, and then bring two squads of guards back here."

Erza nodded again and he shouted, "Mira! Show Erza the back door, and then barricade it, Laxus go help her."

He turned around, satisfied that everyone would do what he told them too and looked critically at the hastily erected barricade. Tables and chairs had been propped against the door, many with legs torn off. Natsu was glad to see everyone taking the crisis seriously. To his mind, it was better to be prepared and look foolish later than to be unprepared and pay for it with a life. He said, "Alright. Here's how it's going to go. The Princess is behind the bar with Laxus. Anyone not on the guard is in front of the bar. That leaves Gray, Gajeel, Elfman, and me, in front of the door. We're the most heavily armed and armored. We'll deal with the first rush, the rest of you deal with any that get past us. If they get past you, well, every person in this tavern had better be dead before a single hair on the Princess' head is harmed."

The bar was silent until Romeo snorted from where he stood next to his father, "Who the hell do you think we are Natsu? If you think any one of us is cowardly enough to not protect the Princess, I might have to challenge your sorry ass to a duel."

A murmur of agreement rumbled through the bar and Natsu chuckled, walking over to clap Romeo on the shoulder, "Someone is angling for my job. Well said, Romeo. Maybe in a few years…"

He was cut off by the sounds of shouting in the distance, as well as the alarm bell closest to Fairy Tail finally beginning to toll. The clanging shook the building minutely and Natsu had to shout over the din, "Alright. Do what I said. Good luck."

He stepped forward through the mass of people and soon found himself only a few feet from the door, along with Elfman, Gray, and Gajeel. He muttered to them as the shouting began to get closer, "If this is an attempt on the royal family, they know exactly where the Princess is. They'll have two teams for her, one to assault the castle and one to assault the bar. Well, that's how I'd do it anyways."

Gajeel rumbled, "Well, hopefully they're not as good as you Salamander. This isn't an ideal space to fight though. There won't be enough room for me to swing my sword that effectively."

Natsu grimaced as he glanced at the blade nearly as tall as he was strapped to Gajeel's back. He then said, "Alright. If they do come through the door, you're first. When it opens, you're going to smash through whatever comes in and get outside where you can fight effectively. Gray, Elf, and me will stay here, standard shield wall until we get separated by the press. Try not to let anyone through. Use your armor to your advantage, I doubt whoever is coming will be wearing any, it would be too hard to sneak any in for their use."

All of them nodded and then Gray said, "That's going to be an awfully small shield wall."

Natsu shrugged, "It's really only to stop the rush. If we can stop their momentum they can't just drown us in bodies."

He was about to go on but something slammed into the front door of the tavern, making the impromptu barricade shake, and a few of the chairs clatter down from the top of the pile. Natsu said, "Alright. You know what to do. You're the best. Good luck."

They all nodded and then turned towards the door. Gajeel took a few steps forward and Natsu, Gray and Elfman all drew their swords and shields, stepping closer together so that when the doors did open they would be able to immediately lock their shields together. The assailants slammed into the door again, Natsu could pick out the individual bodies hitting the door and deduced that they didn't have a battering ram, but grimaced when the barricade started to shake and come apart from the multiple impacts. Gajeel drew his own sword from his back, the black steel gleaming in the candle light. He turned and threw Natsu a feral grin just as the door burst open after one final concerted rush by the attackers. Chairs went flying and the doors nearly came off their hinges as they were violently flung open and men dressed in dark leather began to pour into the tavern. With an animalistic roar Gajeel charged forward, swinging his sword in a large horizontal arc, cleaving two of the enemies in half and throwing everyone in front of him to the side. His armored bulk plowed through the unarmored and smaller men, and he soon disappeared out the doors, although the sound of shouting and metal on metal and metal cleaving flesh could still be heard. Natsu took all this in in an instant and noticed that the attackers momentum had completely stalled from just Gajeel's rush. He decided to go on the attack and shouted, "Elf, Gray. Forward! Break off and kill these bastards!"

With cries of their own his companions rushed forward and began to hack through the throng of men. Natsu was right with them and the world seemed to slow down as adrenaline pumped through his veins. The first man he came too had dark eyes, and the hardened face of a veteran fighter, but he was distracted and Natsu took advantage of it. He smashed the edge of his shield into the man's face, caving in half of his skull and killing him instantly. He didn't have time to draw his shield back in though as a sword flickered out from the man behind Natsu's kill, aimed at his exposed neck. Natsu batted it away with his own sword and brought his shield back into place before sending a lightning fast cut at a man that was trying to push past him, opening up the side of the man's neck and causing him to fall forward with a cry, hands trying to stem the fatal spurting of blood.

Natsu was beginning to be pressed now. Three men fanned out in a semi-circle in front of him and began raining attacks down on him that he was hard pressed to avoid and block. Men began slipping past him and he could hear shouting and screams coming now from behind him, women's screams. They sent him into an animalistic rage, 'None of the people I love die today! Not while I have breath in my body!'

His sword lashed out and one of his attackers broke off with a scream, a deep cut across the front of one thigh. He used his shield to block a sword blow from his attacker on the left and brought his sword back in line just in time to defeat a thrust from the opponent directly in front of him. While that man was bringing his sword back to begin another attack Natsu rushed forward, knocking the man on his left down with a swing of his shield and punching the man in front of him with a gauntleted fist. Blood spurted from his nose and he dropped his sword howling in pain but it was cut off as Natsu drove his sword through the man's chest. He whirled, drawing his sword smoothly out of the man's body, and slashed at a man who was charging into the mass of fighting that was the middle of Fairy Tail now, and lopped off his arm, effectively taking him out of the fight. Next he turned to his last opponent and without even giving him time to scream, slashed him through the heart. He sank back down onto the floor and died silently.

Natsu spun around, ready to attack someone else, but there was nobody near him. Bodies lay on the floor around him but he could clearly see that the assailants had lost too many men to win. A few were desperately fighting, trying to reach the Princess, and a few were desperately trying to run away. Natsu moved to the doorway and shouted, "Hold! If you surrender now quarter will be given! Your lives will be spared!"

The fighting died down and only the moans of wounded men filled the tavern. Many of the attackers dropped their weapon but a few held onto them. The nearest one to the door screamed and charged at Natsu, desperate to escape. Natsu looked at the boy, probably not even seventeen, as he charged. He said softly, "Sorry kid. Wrong choice."

A moment later he effortlessly batted away a clumsy thrust and stabbed forward, driving his sword through the kid's heart, killing him. Not instantly though, the kid had enough time to look confused before his eyes rolled back into his head and he slumped to the floor. Natsu withdrew his sword from the body and said in a quiet deadly voice, "Anyone else?"

The remainder of the attackers dropped their weapons and Natsu said, "Anyone still able to move, find some rope and tie them up. Treat our wounded first, and then if their wounded aren't dead yet, treat them too. Now, who the hell is in charge of this sorry lot?"

One of the wounded men on the ground, the one Natsu had slashed across the thigh, shakily raised his hand. Natsu stalked over and grabbed the front of his tunic, jerking him upright and growling right into his face, "Who the hell are you? Why the hell are you attacking?"

The man's face was white in pain but he gasped out, "You go to hell. You're nothing but scum."

Natsu sighed and dropped the man, moving on to the next one. This one was uninjured so Natsu pushed him up against one of the pillars in Fairy Tail and said, "Who are you? Why the hell are you attacking us?"

Something in Natsu's eyes must have scared the man because he began babbling, "We're the rebels out of the Endwynn Forest. We came to kill the Princess. We've been watching her for weeks so we knew where she would be!"

Natsu continued questioning the man, "When did the rebels there get big enough for this kind of action?"

"We've been planning it for months. I don't understand why it didn't work. We were supposed to have another group come in the back. They were smaller but the group out front was just supposed to be the distraction…"

Natsu was about to ask more questions but the implications of the man's last answer suddenly struck him. He dropped the man and sprinted for the back door, cursing with every step he took. He flew past everyone, ignoring the confusion on their faces, and entered the storeroom of Fairy Tail. He quickly knocked over the impromptu barricade in front of the back door, not caring for the expensive liquors he was destroying, and yanked it open, running through as fast as he could. He ran through the small garden behind Fairy Tail and vaulted the wooden fence around it, finding himself in a side street, 'What's the most direct way to the castle?'

It took his mind a moment to process the layout of the city, 'Left.'

Natsu sprinted down the alleyway, ignoring the frightened looks of people peering out their windows at a blood-spattered man in armor, and took a right. This was a main road but Natsu wasn't used to seeing it so deserted. The ringing of the alarm bells had petered out and only one was still ringing, somewhere off in the distance. He was sprinting down the road and saw an alley up ahead before panting, "There's a short cut. Erza probably would have taken that."

He turned into the alley and stopped dead in his tracks. In front of his eyes was a massacre. At least twenty bodies were lying on the ground up and down the alleyway. Natsu saw that all of them were wearing the same clothes as the attackers at Fairy Tail, 'This must have been the other team that guy was talking about.'

He moved past a small trash heap and was bending down to check one of the bodies when he heard a raspy voice behind him, "Natsu…"

Natsu whipped his head around, one hand moving to his sword, but a moment later it came off and he rushed over to Erza, who was propped up against the trash heap. He knelt down by her and quickly inspected the multiple injuries that adorned her body. There were numerous scrapes and bruises and a shallow cut across her belly had torn her white shirt and blood had soaked what was left but it seemed to have stopped bleeding. More serious was the deep stab wound in her thigh, it was still leaking blood but it didn't have the arterial spurt that indicated a fatal cut, 'Of course, I could have missed that and what I'm seeing now is the last of her blood.'

He didn't see any huge pool of blood or spatters on the walls of the building so he assumed that wasn't the case. The most life threatening injury though was an arrow that was still stuck in her shoulder. He slid a hand behind her and checked the back and found that the arrow hadn't gone all the way through. Erza moaned in pain from the slight jostling of her body and Natsu said, "Sorry Erza, what happens next is going to hurt a lot worse."

He went over to the closest dead body and ripped the man's shirt into long strips, also yanking the leather belt from his pants. He went to Erza and knelt down again, leaning her forward slightly. He folded the belt over and put it up to her mouth, "Bite down on this if you don't want to lose your tongue."

The blood-spattered red head stared blankly at it for a moment before opening her mouth and biting down on the belt. Natsu then said, "Grab onto something, this is going to hurt."

He placed one hand at the top of her arm to hold her steady and put the other on the end of the arrow sticking out of her. When he touched it she screamed through the leather of his belt and one hand clamped down on his leg. Natsu said, "I'm going to push it all the way through, then break it. If I just pull it out it's going to do a lot more damage, got it?"

She nodded and he continued, "On the count of three. One. Two. Three."

In one quick brutal movement, Natsu shoved the arrow the rest of the way through her shoulder. Even through the leather of the belt Erza's pained screams were still very audible, and Natsu felt like he was losing circulation in his lower leg because of how hard her hand had clamped down on it. A moment later though it was done and Erza dropped the belt out of her mouth and gasped, "I'm going to kill you."

Natsu chuckled as he went about breaking the arrow at the tip, and then slowly drawing it back out the front of her shoulder, now that the chance of a barbed arrow ripping up the muscle there was gone, "You can kill me all you want later, just make sure there is a later."

Natsu grabbed the make-shift bandages he'd made earlier and wrapped them around her shoulder, staunching the blood that had begun leaking out, and also wrapping some around the wound in her thigh. He looked at his handiwork critically, "This will work for now but we need to get you to a doctor."

Without any further words he slipped one arm under her knees and another around her shoulders and picked her up, grunting at the weight in his arms. He muttered, "Jeez, why did you have to be so heavy?"

He started walking towards the castle and glanced down to see why she hadn't made a snarky comment, but her eyes were closed and her breathing was labored, "Oh, she passed out. Probably better this way."

Natsu made his way as quickly as he could to the castle through the deserted streets of Magnolia. It took him ten minutes, and by then he was exhausted. The adrenaline from the fight had worn off and carrying Erza was putting a strain on his arms and shoulders. He determinedly pushed on and finally made it to the closed gates, shouting, "Hey, it's Natsu. Open the damn gates!"

It took a moment but he saw a head pop over the wall and shout, "Orders from the king, I can't open the gates for anyone but the Princess."

Natsu groaned and then shouted, "If you don't want me to come up there and rip your tongue out, you will open the gates, and I will deal with the king."

The head disappeared and a few moments later the gates began to open. Natsu stepped through the gates the moment he was able and surveyed the carnage that was hidden behind them. At least fifty of the rebels were lying down on the ground, and scattered among them were guardsmen. One came to meet Natsu at the gate, "Sir, they hit us about 20 minutes ago. We lost 24 men and had another 18 wounded. We captured four of the enemy alive."

Natsu nodded, "Where are the doctors set up?"

The guard pointed towards the stables that were about 50 yards away from the gates, "There's doctors behind the stables, that's where our wounded are. Who's that?"

The guard had motioned towards Erza and Natsu said, "It's Sir Scarlet. She was wounded trying to make her way to the castle."

The guard cursed, "Shit. Well get her to the doctors, hopefully they can keep her from dying."

Natsu nodded and moved towards the stables before stopping and saying to the guard as he passed, "Get two squads together, take them down to Fairy Tail tavern. Assist the wounded there and bring back the most serious. The Princess is there along with the rest of her guard. Bring them back here, tell them those are my orders."

The guard nodded and dashed off to carry out Natsu's orders as Natsu hurried over to the impromptu field hospital that had been set up. He rounded the stables and nearly ran into a doctor who was coming his way. The doctor saw the wounded woman in his arms and cursed, "Damnit! Alright bring her this way. I just lost one so there's an open mat."

Natsu followed the doctor over to an empty bloodstained mat and quickly set Erza down on it. He watched the doctor give her a once over and then look up at him, "What happened?"

Natsu gave him a succinct report, "I found her in an alley. There was an arrow in her shoulder and a deep stab wound in her leg that I considered the most serious. I had to push the arrow the rest of the way through before I could break it off and remove it. I then bandaged the stab and arrow wound and brought her here."

The doctor nodded and went over to a table that had been set up and had various pieces of medical equipment scattered about on it. The man grabbed a few things and came back over, kneeling down next to Erza and peeling off the bandages Natsu had put on her. He critically inspected the wounds before saying, "I don't think she's in any danger of dying. I'm going to sew these up and then you can move her. Any of that blood yours?"

Natsu was caught off guard by the doctor's question and it took a second for his mind to switch gears, "Umm. No, I'm fine. The blood is a couple of other peoples."

The doctor nodded and began silently working on Erza, and Natsu sat down heavily, stretching his legs out and putting both arms back to steady himself as he leaned back to look up at the sky. The last of the twilight sun had disappeared, but the full moon as well as the multitude of lanterns around the castle was more than enough light to see by. After a few minutes of just staring his eyes adjusted and he could make the stars that dotted the night sky, 'How does Lucy ever spend hours looking up at those?'

His musings were interrupted by the king himself, followed by his personal guard. Natsu hadn't noticed his approach and nearly fell over when the king said scathingly, "I see your new knight got herself nearly killed."

Natsu quickly stood up and gave a short bow to the King, "She did it defending the Princess. She did her job."

The King glanced at him imperiously, "I assume no one else on the guard is injured? It just goes to show how worthless she is."

Natsu growled, in a polite tone, "I don't think you know the whole stor…"

He was interrupted as the king held out a hand, "There is a place for women, and it is not on the battlefield. Nor is it protecting my daughter. I want her removed, immediately."

Natsu stiffened and then said formally, "Your Majesty. If you wish to remove her from her post then I shall also resign. I shall also induce the rest of the guard to resign. Furthermore, if I resign, the entirety of your senior army commanders will also resign. If you wish for that, then by all means remove Erza."

The King stared at him for a moment, his eyes bulging with rage, his mouth working but no sounds coming out. Natsu continued, "Or, you can let me do my job. Leave the fighting and the decisions about fighting to the professionals. You're still on the throne because you have competent advisors, and we're all just waiting for Lucy to take the throne anyway."

Without another word the King stalked away, followed by his guardsmen. Lyon Vastia gave Natsu a sympathetic glance and whispered on the way past, "We'll support you if the King wants to move against you. Don't worry."

Natsu nodded to him and soon was left alone with an unconscious Erza. The doctor had finished while Natsu hadn't been paying attention and Natsu thought, 'He did a good job with those stitches, although Erza is going to have some crazy scars. Hopefully she'll still be able to walk after some rest.'

He also noticed that her shirt was pretty much shredded, from her fight and from where the doctor had had to cut it away to do his work. He glanced around and then sighed, there wasn't really anyone to help him carry her. Natsu bent down next to her and gently picked her up again, although it was much more difficult this time, 'I'm going to sleep for a week. It's been too long since I saw any real action. One little skirmish and I'm ready to drop.'

Natsu quickly went into the castle, taking the back ways up to the hallway where the guard's quarters were. He nudged the door open with a foot, carrying Erza into the dark and empty common room. He didn't bother closing the door, walking over to their bedroom, opening that door, and then entering to lay Erza gently down on her bed. He found some matches and lit a lamp that they had hanging on the wall. Natsu stared down at Erza's body, motionless except for the light rise and fall of her chest. The pink haired man sighed and threw the covers on her before leaving the room, 'She'll be out for at least a day. I need to go get things organized.'

Natsu made his way back down to the gates and by that time the squads of guards he'd sent to Fairy Tail were just returning. With them were the Princess, the rest of her guard, and a few wounded. Natsu motioned Laxus over to him, he was the only one not helping the injured, "Report."

Laxus thought for a moment before saying, "No one died, luckily, but we have some wounded. We left a squad of the guards there to deal with the prisoners. There are twenty one dead, four wounded, and eleven prisoners. Everybody on the guard is fully functional an uninjured."

Natsu nodded and then said softly, "Who's wounded?"

The blonde grimaced and sighed before saying, "Macao got stabbed in the arm but he'll be fine, he's had worse. Gildarts is going to have a few new scars but it's nothing to worry about. Both Jet and Droy got knocked out, they'll have killer headaches tomorrow but they'll be fine too. The worst is Romeo. He tried to take on two at once and got stabbed right in the gut. We brought him back for the doctors to work on but I don't know if he's gonna make it."

Natsu nodded, stone-faced, before saying, "Good work. It could have been a lot worse. You take the Princess to her room and then get your armor on. You're on guard until I can get you relieved tomorrow. I'm exhausted and I bet the others are too."

Laxus nodded, "Yeah, don't worry about it. I'll hook some of the regular guardsmen in and beef up security in that wing of the castle."

The pink haired knight nodded, "Good idea. Do it."

The blonde went off and Natsu glanced around. The rest of the guard was still in protective positions around the Princess but when Laxus went over and spoke quietly to them, they relaxed and began to tramp over to Natsu. When they reached the pink haired man he said, "Good work everyone. You're all relieved until tomorrow. Get that armor off, clean up, then get some sleep."

They all gave him smiles and began walking towards the castle. As Gray passed Natsu he asked, "Whatever happened to Red? Took her long enough with those damn guards."

Natsu shook his head, "If it hadn't been for her we'd have had it a lot worse."

At his quizzical look Natsu waved his hand dismissively, "I'll tell you and show you tomorrow."

That was good enough for the raven haired man and he left. Natsu glanced around, making sure that there was nothing left for him to do, and then followed his men into the castle. They all went to the armory first to take off their armor and weapons; they'd have to clean them tomorrow due to the incredible amount of blood that soaked all of it. The other four men went to find baths but Natsu didn't follow, instead going back to his room to check on Erza. When he got to his room though, he was shocked. A dark figure was standing over Erza, holding a pillow over her face, suffocating her. With a roar Natsu threw himself forward, desperate to save Erza, and to kill whoever was endangering her.


	6. Chapter 6

The dark figure standing over Erza was startled, and was only half turned around when Natsu hit him. The knight heard a groan as Erza's assailant slammed into the dresser by her bed, but that didn't stop him from delivering a vicious knee to Natsu's stomach. He staggered back slightly and the intruder kept on coming, throwing a sharp jab at Natsu's throat. An arm came up to knock the strike out of line and Natsu retaliated by headbutting the man in the nose. Dark blood spattered onto Natsu and the floor as the assailant howled in pain, clutching his now broken nose. Natsu took advantage of his opponent's distraction and swept the man's legs out from under him, sending him to the floor. The knight threw himself down on top of the man and wrapped an arm around his neck, attempting to strangle him. The man started to buck and heave, wildly trying to throw Natsu off of him. He grimly held on, though his exhaustion was making it difficult. Slowly, finally, his opponent stiffened and gave one final jerk before languidly relaxing. Natsu held on for another ten seconds, squeezing hard now that there was no resistance, just to make sure that the man was dead.

The exhausted pink haired man rolled away onto his back and lay there for a moment, chest heaving, letting energy seep back into his tired limbs. After what seemed like hours but was only two minutes Natsu heaved himself off the ground and found a lantern and matches, lighting them with practiced ease. He hung it on the wall and then trudged over to Erza, putting a hand an inch above her mouth and sighing in relief as her breath hit it, 'If she died after all the work I did saving her today…'

Natsu finally turned around and bent over, rolling the dead body over so that he could look at its face. The familiar face filled him with rage, "Jose Porla, I should have known."

He spat on the corpse and then rifled through the man's ever present purple jacket, finding the sealed envelope that he was looking for on the inside pocket. He quickly tucked that into his own pocket and turned to check Erza one last time. She was breathing normally although her face was pale from blood loss and when he placed a hand on her forehead, "No infection yet, we'll be sure in a few days though."

After his examination he left everything as it was and went out into the guard's common room closing the door behind him. Natsu went over to one of the couches and sat down on it crossing his legs, throwing an arm over the back of it and staring at the door. While waiting for his compatriots to get back from the bath Natsu idly thought, 'This is what an evil mastermind must feel like, waiting for his intended victims. Well, the guys aren't my intended victims… The metaphor doesn't really hold up.'

The thoughts that were distracting him from the core of rage deep in his breast were interrupted when Gray, Gajeel, and Elfman walked into the common room, freshly bathed and looking exhausted. They all looked surprised to see the pink haired knight covered in even more fresh blood and were even more surprised when he said, "Draw lots. One of you gets to guard the door to my room tonight."

The three groaned and Gajeel grunted, "Why?"

Natsu stood up and said, "Jose Porla is lying dead on my floor and I'd prefer the King's cleaners not remove his body before I can present it."

Gray paled and sat down heavily on a chair, blood rushed to Elfman's face and he started shaking in rage, Gajeel only grunted again, "What's the King's assassin doing dead on your floor."

Natsu's face twisted in a distasteful smile, "Erza is wounded and unconscious in there. The King didn't take too kindly to that fact and so Jose Porla showed up. I found him guilty of attempted murder and executed him."

Elfman burst out, "It is unmanly to send assassins in the middle of the night to kill a wounded warrior!"

Gray cut in, "I'm more worried about what Natsu is planning on doing. Did Porla have authorization?"

Natsu took the sealed envelope that he'd taken off of Porla's body out of his pocket and showed his friend's the wax seal, "It's the King's personal stamp. The wax is still a little warm, he must have signed it in the past few hours."

All three guards verified it and then Gray said quietly, "What are you going to do Natsu?"

The pink haired man tucked the envelope back into his pocket while saying, "I'm going to go find the King, put a sword to his throat, and ask him politely why he tried to kill Erza."

All three of the other men simultaneously snorted and Gajeel said, "That's a bald faced lie. You're going to shove that sword straight into his throat."

"Just for that you get to be the one to guard Erza and the body all night."

Gajeel made a rude gesture towards Natsu but left to go retrieve his weapon from the armory. Gray shook his head and chuckled, "You're either going to be a King or dead tomorrow Natsu."

The Guard Captain stretched his arms above his head and replied, "Nah, I'll make Lucy Queen."

Elfman shrugged, "Lucy is a real man! She would be a good queen."

Natsu walked towards the door and patted the hulking man on the shoulder as he went by, "Yes, she would."

As he was walking out the door he heard Gray shout, "If you die I'm captain! Just think about that before you go and do something stupid."

Natsu chuckled as he pushed open the door to the armory, "Like hell I'd let that icicle become Captain."

He moved past Gajeel who was slinging his massive sword onto his back and grabbed his own sword, belting it on not thirty minutes after he'd taken it off for the day. On his way out past Gajeel he said, "Check on Erza too, make sure her bandages are clean and there's no infection."

Gajeel nodded silently and Natsu strode out into the hall and began making his way towards the interior of the castle, 'Where would the King be right now? His rooms? No, probably not. I bet he's in the war room, he should have interrogated his prisoners by now and figured out that they're rebels.'

Natsu strode through corridors filled with servants and guard, hurrying about with important tasks. All of them stopped to stare for a moment though at the Captain of the Princess' guard striding through the castle with an aura of deadly tension that promised death to somebody. They hurriedly got out of the way of the still blood speckled pink-haired knight. Natsu didn't pay attention to them, instead focused on the rage that he knew was going to lead him to make a stupid decision. He decided he didn't care and so when he came to the war room instead of knocking he kicked down the door. It crashed in with a satisfying bang and Natsu was inside before anyone in the room could move.

It was a large circular room with maps covering the walls and shelves containing more maps and various intelligence reports. There was a large square table in the middle with a world map on it, colored pins dotting the map showing troops and movement. Natsu was intimately familiar with the room so he noticed none of its features. Instead he noticed Makarov and Gildarts bent over one side of the table studying the map with the King across from them doing the same, flanked by his guards, Lyon Vastia and Jura Neekis.

Everyone started when Natsu crashed into the room but before they could move the pink haired knight had pinned the king against the wall by the neck and his sword was out and pointed at the guards. There was a shocked silence in the room until Natsu snarled, "What gives you the right to send assassins to kill your own daughter's guards in the middle of the night?"

King Jude blinked twice and then said, "I am the King. I have the right to do anything."

"You may have the right," Natsu said as he brought his sword around to place the tip over the King's heart, "but my sword gives me the power."

As Natsu tensed his body to deliver the killing thrust Makarov barked, "Natsu! What is the meaning of this?"

The pink haired man held off on the thrust and said through clenched teeth, "I found Jose Porla trying to smother Erza to death while she lies wounded defending the princess. He's dead, she isn't."

There was a muffled gasp as the air in the room became thicker with tension. Gildarts whistled and shook his head, "This is a mess and no mistake."

Makarov said in a low voice, "Where is your proof that he wasn't acting alone?"

Natsu used the hand he'd had at the king's neck, keeping him in place with the tip of his sword, and got the sealed envelope from his pocket, "Signed authorization and immunity assassination order with the King's unbroken seal I recovered from Porla's corpse."

Makarov shuffled forward to take the envelope from Natsu's hand and as he did the King burst out, "I am the King! I demand you release me at once! Guards, arrest this man."

Lyon said nervously, "Come on Natsu, let the King go. We can work this out another way."

Jura concurred, "Sir Natsu, you must unhand the King."

Natsu chuckled, his body shaking, but the point of his sword never wavering, "You two seriously think you can take me?"

Both Knights faces hardened and their hands, which had been on the hilts of their weapons, began to slowly draw the swords out of their sheaths. Before the promised violence could commence Makarov sighed and shook his head, "Jude how could you? That woman has given good service to your daughter."

The King's face was red as a tomato from anger and lack of breath due to Natsu's chokehold on his neck but he was able to burst out, "What kind of Knight is she if she gets so badly wounded in one little grrkkhh."

His tirade was cut off as Natsu tightened his grip across the King's throat and the pink haired knight snarled, "She was wounded killing twenty men by herself, alone in a back alley. Those were the men who were supposed to assault Fairy Tail from the rear. So, Your Highness, she singlehandedly saved your daughter's life!"

Both Makarov and Gilders paled and the taller of the two muttered, "I knew there was something wrong about that attack. It was too simple."

Lyon and Jura looked aghast but kept their swords trained on natsu's back. The King's jaw worked up and down but no words came out. Natsu smiled grimly, "That's right you slimy son of a bitch. That woman is a better knight than almost everyone in the kingdom. You on the other hand, have no fighting prowess and no honor. You play your little games…"

"What is going on here?"

A high, clear, commanding voice interrupted Natsu's tirade. He was intimately familiar with it and so didn't say anything, letting the newcomer come to her own conclusions. A deeper voice came after and said, "Natsu, what the blazes are you doing?"

This time Natsu did answer through gritted teeth, "Laxus, what did I tell you about keeping the Princess in her room tonight?"

Laxus drawled, "You know how she is when she wants something Salamander."

"An order from your Captain in matters of security supersedes anyth…"

Natsu felt a light blow on the back of his head and Lucy hissed into his ear, "Let my father down now! Or have you gone insane?"

The pink haired man growled, "He tried to have Erza murdered!"

Lucy set a small hand on his shoulder and said, "You knew exactly what kind of man my father was when you pushed him into naming Erza to my guard. You should have known the risks."

Natsu jerked his head around and said aghast, "Luce! How can you condone what he's done?"

The look Lucy gave him was withering, "You're a hot blooded fool Natsu Dragneel, if you think that I am not outraged and furious that my own father tried to kill one of my dear friends."

The King winced and Natsu flushed with chagrin. Lucy glared at both of them, "I assume you have proof Natsu?"

The pink haired knight said quickly, "Jose Porla's dead body and his letter of authorization. Makarov has it"

Lucy glanced over at the elderly mustachioed man and he nodded, "It's authentic with the king's seal."

Many of the men in the room began to sweat as the imperious blonde rounded on her father. A shouting match between the two ensued, everyone else in the room seemingly forgotten by the two. Even Natsu, whose hand was still clamped around the King's neck and whose sword was poised over his heart was forgotten by the screaming royals. The shouting ended abruptly though as Lucy screamed directly into her father's face, "If you're going to try and assassinate your own subjects then maybe I should let Natsu shove his sword through your black heart."

Natsu grimly smiled and lightly prodded the King's chest with his sword, "Don't think I wouldn't love to right now."

The King glanced around desperately seeking an ally but his gaze was met with stone faces. Even Lyon and Jura had lowered their swords from Natsu's back and were glaring at the King. Knowing that he was defeated, the king was still a proud man and he spat venomously, "Dragneel is just trying to protect his whore. I want a real…"

He was cut off by Natsu slamming his forehead into the King's face, breaking his nose. Blood spurted from it and Jude slapped his hands over it, shrieking in pain. The Pink haired Knight growled, "Don't you dare speak ab out Erza that way."

The King was too busy howling in pain and squirming in Natsu's iron grip to reply or even acknowledge the knight. The room was silent save for the King until Lucy finally broke it after a few tense seconds, "What do you want to do Natsu. You hold my father's life in your hand."

"I'd really like to speed up the succession."

The Princess sighed, "I'd rather you didn't. He is my father after all and the King. IF you kill him I will have to hang you."

The air was sucked out of the room as the occupants collectively held their breath in anticipation of Natsu's reaction. After an eternity Natsu abruptly turned and bodily flung the King across the room. The rather large man crashed into a cabinet and fell limply to the floor, groaning in pain. Natsu sheathed his sword in one quick movement before saying tightly, "If I see one of the King's agents anywhere near my quarters, I will slaughter them. Then I will come and slaughter the King, and anyone in my way. A king is supposed to be just, and firm, and kind. Jude is none of those things. I won't hesitate again."

Makarov gaped at him, "Natsu, you can't make threats like that! He is the damned King, for good or for ill."

The fiery guard captain leveled his gaze at Makarov, "Power is where you believe it lies. If you believe it lies with the King, then the King has the power. But if you believe that power comes from a sword," he patted the hilt of his own, "then I can make all of the threats that I want."

The elderly man slammed a fist down on the table and shouted, "That is a recipe for chaos! If we live by the power of a sword, then we can hardly even be called a civilization! We must follow the King's laws or our entire kingdom will crumble!"

Natsu began striding out of the room but said over his shoulder, "Then maybe the King should inspire loyalty in the ones that hold the real power, not try and assassinate them in the night."

With that parting barb he swept out of the room and back into the corridor. All of the yelling had brought curious servants and guards but when he exited they all scurried away. The Knight strode uninterrupted through the castle and back to his quarters. When he opened the door to his quarters he was greeted by the three grinning faces of Gajeel, Elfman, and Gray. Nearly naked, Gray asked, "So how'd it go? You've only been gone for about 20 minutes. I expected the alarms to start again and that you'd have to fight all of the guards to get away."

Natsu waved his hand tiredly, "Nothing so dramatic. There was some yelling, and somehow Lucy got involved, and then I broke the King's nose."

Each man winced and Gajeel rumbled, "That might come back to bite you Natsu."

The pink haired Knight grinned, "No way. His little stunt with Porla brought everyone over to my side so he has no allies anymore. Even Lucy was on the verge of letting me stab him for a moment. He won't be able to interfere with the guard of Erza ever again."

Gray sighed and said, voice dripping with sarcasm, "I wish you'd go that far for me. What do you think guys? If I had a figure like Erza's would Natsu break the King's nose for me?"

Natsu stiffened before throwing himself forward and punching Gray in the face, sending him falling over the back of the couch. Elfman looked shocked and Gajeel looked bored as Gray popped up from behind the couch and said, "Face it Natsu. You go above and beyond duty when it comes to women."

The guard captain gritted his teeth, "I do not. If the King had tried to assassinate any of you I'd have done the same."

Gray laughed, "But you wouldn't have done it with the same fire. Face it Natsu, you like this one."

Natsu's face turned to stone, "There is nothing going on between Erza and I, and there never will be."

Gajeel and Elfman chuckled and Gray openly laughed. The raven haired man said, "I haven't seen you this worked up since Lisanna's funeral. You feel something for Erza."

Instead of trying to deny or fight back Natsu sighed, his shoulders slumping wearily, "Just shut the hell up and go to bed. All of you. There's too much adrenaline in my veins for me to sleep tonight."

"Yeah, he'll spe…"

"One more word out of you Gray and you'll be on 16 hour shifts with no break."

Knowing not to test the fiery man's temper Gray finally acquiesced and retired to his room. Elfman and Gajeel stood up heavily and went to their own room. Gajeel couldn't help saying over his shoulder, "I told you that you go way overboard trying to get laid. There are brothels for that sort of thing."

The door slammed behind him and Natsu was left in an empty room. His body was exhausted but his mind was alert and there was no way he would be able to sleep, 'Especially if the King tries to clean up the problem. I could be up to my ears in guardsmen at any moment.'

He walked around the room blowing out all of the lamps and then entered his own quarters. The single lamp hanging on the wall still burned and using its light Natsu went over to Erza and gave her a quick once over. Her breathing was steady and a small amount of color had returned to her face. When he checked the bandages on her shoulder and thigh they were still clean, 'Good. That doctor did a good job stitching her up.'

With that he pulled the blankets back over her and then drew up a chair next to her bed. He leaned the other one against the door, wedging it under the handle so that he'd have an extra few seconds to react if somebody decided to break down the door. The Knight muttered as he settled into the chair next to Erza's bed, "I know I'm being paranoid but it's been that kind of day."

He drew his sword and settled it across his lap. Leaning back he balanced the chair on two backs and rested the back on Erza's desk. With a sigh he glanced over at the comatose red head, 'There's nothing going on between us. There's too much emotional scar tissue to try and rip through, for both of us. It'll never happen."

A few moments later, despite his earlier words, he was dead asleep.


End file.
